


right in front of me (or maybe in disguise)

by PaisleyLove96



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Famous Harry, M/M, Multi, Non-Famous Louis, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-02-05 04:14:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1804945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaisleyLove96/pseuds/PaisleyLove96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Harry has always kept his mark hidden. His mother always told him that when you meet them, it’ll happened naturally. There’s nothing more un-natural than the paparazzi stalking out people day and night trying to find his match for him. </i>
</p><p> </p><p> <i>Louis never really cared much for this romantic “love-will-find-you-in-good-time” soul mate deal.He’s tried every dating site and  posted pictures of his mark everywhere. Nothing.  So now he’s twenty one and fucking his way through every bar in the city trying to find a matching mark hidden away on his soul mate’s body somewhere.  </i></p><p>Or</p><p>An AU where soulmates have matching marks on their body. Harry is famous and hides his, Louis is single and desperate for a match, Zayn and Liam have a thing going on but it’s not a soul mate thing and Niall seems to be the only one who actually knows what he's doing.</p><p>
  <b> NOT ON HIATUS JUST A SLOW UPDATE </b>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to Jessie, who was the first person i told about this and is the only one who's seen the ridiculous character summaries i wrote.
> 
> inspired mostly by [this](http://www.krumcake.tumblr.com/post/84983728019/honestly-im-really-only-interested-in-soulmate) post 
> 
> perspectives are easy enough - L for Louis, H for Harry etc.
> 
> Obligatory Disclaimer:  
> This is fiction. Yes, i know, take your time.  
> I don't know the boys because trust me if i did i would not be writing fic about them  
> I'm not making assumptions about any of the boys or the boys families/friends/partners and their personality/personas/sexuality etc. mainly because it is not by business.  
> If you happen to be one of the boys/know them in any way, i'm not gonna stop you reading but i am not responsible for any psychological harm/ general weirdness you will suffer from afterwards.  
> All factual/grammatical errors are mine (of which there are plenty srsly if you know a beta point me towards them)  
> k thanks bye.

**-L-**

They say that when you meet your soulmate for the first time you can just _tell_. As much as having matching marks on your body is the main way of knowing, apparently it also comes with a _“feeling”_. Just to guarantee it one hundred percent.

Louis’ mum always said that it felt like puzzle pieces clicking into place, something almost indescribable yet wonderful. His sister Lottie says it’s a warm feeling that spreads through your body and tingles.

Although where she got her information from he has no idea, considering she’s 16 and still convinced that some famous idiot like Harry Styles or Justin Bieber is her soulmate.

The idea of soulmates is something Louis thinks about a lot, even if he wish he didn’t. His mark sits just below his collarbone, a brown circle with a slightly off centre dot in the middle of it. It looks a bit like a cartoon eye.

Zayn says it looks like a nipple.

Zayn’s a bit of a twat, really.

But Louis is 21, without a soulmate, and has decided to take matters into his own hands. He’s tried everything he could think of; signed up to every possible mark-matching website he could find. They’re incredible really. You just upload a picture of your mark and the software scans the entire database looking for a match. Within ten minutes you could find the love of your life!

Or not. Not if you’re Louis, that is.

No, Louis’ stuck with a soulmate who refuses to use such sites. Probably some hippie who believes in “things happening _naturally_ ” or some other rubbish like that.

Or maybe his soulmate isn’t even alive yet.

Wait, no, that’d make him two decades older than them.

No thanks.

So right now, his current method of approach his systematically fucking his way through every nightclub he can find in the hopes of finding his “One”. If not, at least he got laid.

He couldn’t wait forever.

**-H-**

Harry was a hopeless romantic. He loved the idea of soulmates and soul marks, even before he properly understood it. Even when he was younger, there was a fantastic kind of security in knowing that your soulmate was out there. Somewhere. Waiting for you, just like you were waiting for them.

Being a hopeless romantic though, also meant that he refused to push it in anyway. Refused to search for them, convinced that when they found each other it should happen naturally.

This meant that when he auditioned for X-Factor a few years ago, Harry made sure to cover his mark with a thick leather band on the off chance they’d actually show his audition on telly. He hadn’t really planned for what would happen if he got through to boot camp. Or the live shows. Or if he won the whole damn thing.

So he kept that bracelet on, no matter what. Usually putting a Band-Aid over the mark as well, or pretending it was somewhere else. He’d had to curb his penchant for nakedness quite a bit around the house so no-one realised he was hiding it on his wrist.

Of course it got harder when he won. Soon enough his face was everywhere, paparazzi following him around whenever he stepped outside the house.

But worst of all he still had interviewers and fans asking him about why he wouldn’t show his mark.

It was rare that celebrities wouldn’t show their marks. Most of them had either met their soulmates before their fame, or used it to find them as soon as the possibly could. But Harry still could not imagine a more awkward way of meeting your soulmate than over twitter or through a gossip blog. If it meant he had to wait until his fame died down and he lived a somewhat normal life, then so be it.

He’d wait. It’d be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr at [lou-makemetea](http://www.lou-makemetea.tumblr.com)  
> Or on twitter at [CityDaze_](http://www.twitter.com/CityDaze_)  
> Love ya,  
> N


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello thank you for reading and support!!
> 
> Just wanna say that the way I have depicted, and will depict Harry’s PR team is in no way how I believe Modest! actually functions. I also have very little knowledge of how PR teams operate on a day to day basis. I do have my own criticisms and thoughts on One Directions management/PR which you are welcome to ask me about on [tumblr](www.lou-makemetea.tumblr.com/ask) or in the comments section.

**-L-**

There was a warm tingling feeling spreading through Louis’ body as he surveyed the room. There was a strange feeling in the air; an excited thrumming that pulsed through his entire body. It was like he could barely feel the slight tackiness of the floorboards, or the humidity that comes from a too-crowded bar. It felt like he was on fire in the most delicious way possible. It felt like of all the places in the world he could be, this is where he belonged. In a dingy as fuck club, on a Thursday night, surrounded by terrible dancers.

It felt like fate, but it was probably just the alcohol.

Definitely the alcohol.

 Not that he minded that much if it meant he ended up here, with an incredibly attractive man grinding against his ass as the music played just a little too loud in the crowded club.

Louis had had two main goals for tonight. One, get drunk. Two, find soulmate or if that doesn’t happen, at least get laid. Check and check. Well, almost. He was working on the second one.

Sure enough, Louis soon felt mystery guys hands move from where they sat loosely on his waist, creeping down a little further, gripping just a little tighter. But before he could get any further, Louis turned to face the guy. And, fuck, he was _fit._  Tall, lean and absolutely gorgeous, the kind of swoopy hair that made Louis want to run his fingers through. And maybe pull on while the guy sucked his dick.

He looked up, meeting the boy’s eyes before being tugged impossibly closer, so their hips aligned and making Louis throw his arms around his neck, tangling them in the short soft hair he found there.

“Hello.” Louis’ voice was rough as he met the boys eyes.

“Hi there,” The boy’s voice was deep, mouth hot near Louis’ ear as he talked and wandering hands digging firmly into the slight v of Louis’ hips.

“You got a mark?” Louis asked, fingering along the low collar of the boys shirt. There was no way they could be soulmates, but it never hurt to check. Matching marks or not, Louis was going to fuck this gorgeous stranger.

“’course I do.”

“You going to let me see it?” Louis ran his hands further down and then along the hem of the other boy’s shirt, pushing up just a little to reveal a sliver of skin and a toned stomach.

 “Might make you find it for yourself.” The guy smirked, as he grabbed Louis’ hands and moved them just a little lower, “Not exactly suitable for public, if you get my drift.”

It was a terrible pick-up line, one Louis had heard a hundred times before. Hell, it was one Louis had used on other guys before.

But the guy was hot, and probably a good fuck and Louis was just desperate enough to find his soulmate that he’d go along with it.

He pushed upwards, meeting the boys lips in a rough desperate kiss, before pulling away and saying, “I’m Louis by the way.”

The boy answered, mouth still impossibly close to Louis’ own, “Nick.”

“Well, Nick, my place or yours?”

***

Zayn was sitting on the kitchen bench in his underwear when Louis walked into the kitchen the next morning, a piece of toast in one hand and phone in the other, like usual.

“So, was he your One?” he asks, mouth full and eyes still glued to his phone.

 “Yes, Zayn.” Louis said, pulling open the fridge, “Last night I went to a gay club in the middle of nowhere, got drunk, met my soulmate, let him fuck me in my bed and then sneak out the next day while I pretended to sleep so we could avoid the inevitable awkward morning talk.”

“I was just asking.”

“Well. Don’t.”

“You ever considered actually dating someone?”

“Why would I do that?” Was it appropriate to eat left over Pad Thai for breakfast? It was almost ten o’clock anyway. Practically lunchtime. Totally appropriate.

“Because it’s fun! And good for you and then I won’t have to deal with your one night stands trying to awkwardly make conversation with me before they leave in the morning?”

“Just because you and Liam have your weird thing going on-”

“We’re together, Lou.”  Zayn held his phone up, where a picture of Liam and Zayn was the wallpaper. “It’s called boyfriends.”

“Yeah, yeah, star-crossed lovers, screw the system blah blah, whatever, it’s all very beautiful,” Louis just waved a hand flippantly, shoving the leftovers into the microwave and hitting he buttons maybe just a little too hard.

“Look Zayn,” He said, leaning back against the bench opposite where Zayn was still sitting, “Just because you and Liam are together, _does not_  mean that I need to get a boyfriend. At least one that isn’t my soulmate.”

“Just think about it, yeah? You never know what might happen.”

 

***

**-H-**

“Now Harry, we know you have a bit of a thing for getting naked. Certain X-Factor clips spring to mind. ”

“It is very freeing.” Harry laughed along with the radio hosts, sending a wink towards the wall where the livestream camera was placed.

 “But,” the host continued, “We at Triple M can’t help but notice that there has been certain things that you’ve kept covered.”

The interview had been going well so far. They’d talked about the upcoming tour, the new album, and a fair few of the ‘fan questions’. Harry had genuinely thought he might be able to do at least one interview where  _it_ wasn't bought up.

Apparently not.

 “Well you know, we do have to keep the shows PG.”

“Now, now, don’t think you’re getting out of this. You know what I mean. Why haven’t we seen that little soul mark of yours?”

Harry shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat, “I owe a lot to the fans, and I share a lot of my life with them, like you see in the movie.”

“So why not your mark? Those fans of yours would be able to hunt down your mate within hours!” The hosts laugh, and Harry forces his smile a little wider. “Or have you already got her squirreled away somewhere? A secret lover, perhaps?”

Seriously you’d think he was the only celebrity to ever keep their mark hidden.

One day, Harry will be able to tell the radio hosts exactly where they can stick their intrusive questions about his love life. But for now, he’s still stuck playing the game.

“I can confirm that I do not have a secret soulmate. Unless you count Niall that is.” Another too wide fake smile.

Blessedly, the interview soon drew to a close. As he went through the obligatory sign offs and thank yous on autopilot, Harry could already picture the articles being written. Already knew what the headlines would say, the same thing they said every time:

 

“Popstar Harry Styles Refuses to Show Soulmark... Again.”

“No Soulmate for Styles!”

“Why Won’t Harry Styles Show His Mark?”

“What is Harry Hiding?”

 

He was sick of it. It was no-one’s business but his own, and it _certainly_ wasn't the business of some nosy journalists. 

The second Harry’s out of the studio and into the car, he’s on the phone with Scott, head of his PR team.

“I thought I told you no more questions about my mark?” Harry said, as soon as Scott answered.

“Harry! Good Morning! I trust the interview went well?”

“I told you to veto all questions about my mark.”

“And we did!” There was a pause, “Initially.”

“Scott.” Harry did not have the time or patience for this.

 “It’s just that, as I explained last time, we need something like this to get you in the papers! You refuse to go out on any of the dates we tried to send you on, you refuse to just show your mark, so this is what you’re stuck with until you go on tour. ”

“Or I could actually just do interviews that are focused on the tour? And the new album that’s just come out? You know, the actual music?”

“Sure, but that doesn’t get you headlines.”

“I don’t want headlines!”

“Look, Harry. You chose us to do your PR because we’re good at our job.” Harry rolled his eyes on the other end of the line, “So just trust us, yeah? We know what we’re doing.”

“No more questions about my mark.” He hung up, too tired for any kind of pleasantry. He’ll feel bad about it later. Maybe.

Leaning back into the leather seats of the town car Harry tugged lightly on the thick leather bracelet wrapped tightly around his wrist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay first off I just wanna say how /incredible/ and utterly unprecedented the reaction to this is? Like 500+ hits? I don’t even know that many people! Not to mention 30+ subscribers which what that’s ridiculous.
> 
> SO HELLO THERE AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING I LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE YOU STICK WITH THIS MESS OF A STORY I AM GIVING YOU OKAY THANKS LOVE YOU BYE XX 
> 
> (also please forgive my tomlinshaw heart I had to put it in and its so minor it’s not even worth tagging I promise he doesn’t turn up again! Also I will explain the liam/zayn situation, be patient) 
> 
> KUDOS AND COMMENTS GIVE BABY ANGELS THEIR WINGS
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at [lou-makemetea](http://www.lou-makemetea.tumblr.com)  
> Or on twitter at [CityDaze_](http://www.twitter.com/CityDaze_)  
> Love ya,  
> N


	3. Chapter 3

**-L-**

“Louis, pull up your goddamn collar. You’re at work, not on the pull.”

Liam’s voice called out from where he had just appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Louis let out an indignant huff but released the collar of his shirt anyway. It still hung a bit low but he had glorious collarbones and the world deserved to see them.

“Honestly Liam, It’s not like there are customers here anyway.”

He turned back to where he’d been looking at his mark in the reflection of the coffee machine.

He poked hard at it.

_C’mon. You can do it. Just one little soulmate. That’s not too much to ask, right?_

He poked hard at it again,

“What are you even doing?”

“Shh, Liam. I’m concentrating.”

_How about just a sign then?_

_Just a sign about who they are. Or what they’re like. Or if I’m going to meet them soon._

Louis screwed his eyes shut.

“You know it doesn’t work like that, right?”

_Please. Please. Please. Please. Please._

“I told you so.” Liam said, smugly as he leant against the counter.

The small bell placed above the door makes a soft noise and both boys’ heads shoot up in surprise as the door swings open, a young man walking through.

-H-

“Y’alright mate?” Niall asked.

They’d picked Niall and Josh up on the way home from Harry’s radio interview and were off to the rehearsal space and studios they’d been using in preparation for tour. It hadn’t taken long for the other boys to notice something was wrong in the quite way Harry sat, not making conversation beyond a muttered “hey” when they first got in.

Harry just shrugged in response, the interview and the discussion with management afterwards had left a heavy tiredness weighing down his body. “Yeah, it’s… whatever.”

“Harry, c’mon.” Harry looked up from where he had been staring fixatedly at his lap and Niall fixed him with a serious look.  “Just, the interview I did today, yanno? They kept asking about my mark…”

  
“What?!” Niall and Josh both half-shouted.

“I thought they weren’t allowed to do that anymore!” Josh continued, his voice laced with anger.  
“So did I. Management had other ideas though.”

“Oh, Haz.” Niall’s quick to scramble out of his seat beside Josh and wrap his arms around Harry, crushing him against his chest.

“Are you still sure you don’t want to meet them yet?” Josh asked, “I know you’re all about that natural shit but seriously, thin about how much easier your life will be.”

  
“Josh, shut the fuck up man.” Niall’s voice was stern but there still wasn’t much heat in the glare he aimed Josh’s way, “you know Harry-”

“No, it’s fine Niall.” Harry sat back up again, “Sometimes I just wish it was that easy, yeah? But even if I did show my mark and let everyone hunt down my mate there’s still a whole lot of shit I’d have to deal with. Like, what if they’re a guy? Or they’re older? Or like super young? What if they’re a fan? Or worse what if they’re not a fan and they hate me? And also like they could live anywhere in the world, not that I’m ever in London for long anyway but like if I just showed my mark I would completely destroy this person’s life and -”

He took a deep breath and blinked slowly.

Niall and Josh were silent as they watched him, probably more shocked than anything at Harry’s sudden outburst.

“Right,” Josh said into the silence, “I think we all need some sugar or something after that.”

**-L-**

Louis’ breath caught as the boy walked through the door, eyes glued to the phone in his hand.

_Was this his soulmate?_

_Did the wishing actually work?_

“Out of the way, Liam” Louis proclaimed, quickly pushed his way up to the register, “Got a soulmate to meet.”  


Liam was mostly staring in shock at the fact Louis’ strategy may have actually worked.

“Hello and welcome to The Grind, What can I get you?”

“Uh yeah, can I get three of those chocolate muffins and two lattes please?” Irish accent, Louis could work with that.

“No worries mate, that’ll be 18 pounds.”

Finally, _finally_ , the boy looked up and smiled at Louis. He was cute, no doubt about it. Dyed blond hair, blue eyes and a soul mark just on the edge of his jaw near his ear.

Fuck.

It was the shape of a wonky airplane and most certainly not the circle and dot that matched Louis’.

As soon as the cute-but-not-his-soulmate-cute boy was out the door Louis collapsed rather dramatically against the counter.

“What have I done to deserve this torture, Liam?! I’m a good person!”

“Just give it time, Lou” Liam reasoned, resting a hand on Louis’ shoulder in a somewhat comforting way, “It’s hardly the end of the world”

 “Just because you’re happy dating Zayn-”

  
 “We’re not just dating, Louis.” Liam lets out a sigh, “You know I’d marry him if I could.”

 “Okay fine, so you’re self-elected soulmates”

Liam just sighed again, it was something he did a lot when he was annoyed and trying not to show it.

“You know,” Liam said, “I’ll never believe how someone like Zayn became best friends with you, you put so much credit into this soulmates stuff and Zayn puts absolutely none”

“Yeah but Liam don’t you wonder sometimes?” Louis asked.

  
Liam just shrugged and turned back to clean the coffee machine.

 “Not really, I love Zayn and he loves me, and we don’t need a stupid mark to tell us that.”

“But the universe, Liam!”

 “Well, I say we’re soulmates and that’s that, the universe can get over it”

Louis would admire Liam’s conviction if he wasn’t also convinced they were idiots. Zayn more so than Liam. When Zayn finally developed his mark at thirteen, like most people, it showed up on the back of his head, obscured by the hair that grew there. By then Zayn had decided that he “couldn’t give a shit about this soulmate crap, honestly Louis, it’s not that important”, and refused to shave his head to find out what his mark actually looked like.

So instead, Zayn just fucked about and dated whoever and refused to look for a soulmate like Louis did. When Zayn met Liam, Louis really thought this would change.

They’d started off casual but literally within months Liam was practically living in Zayn’s room and they were nauseatingly in love. Practically soulmates except for the fact that they weren’t. Liam’s mark was impossible to ignore, a dark brown squiggle that sat right over his Adam’s apple in the shape of an ‘m’. Zayn still refused to show his, even after years of being together.

As far as Zayn and Liam are concerned, what they have is good enough. But Louis couldn’t help but worry. If people could just fall in love with whoever, then what was the point of even having a soul mate? Just because you refuse to believe in it, doesn’t mean they just go away.

“But what if one of you meet your actual soulmate?” Louis couldn’t help but ask. It wasn’t a new question.

Liam turns and levels Louis in a stare. “Zayn _is_ my “actual soulmate”, Louis.”

Louis pouted. Liam raised an eyebrow silently.

“Ugh!” Louis groaned, defeated. “I’m sorry, Liam. I just- I just get so frustrated, you know?”

“I know, Lou. It just. It is what it is, yeah”

“Yeah.” Louis repeated. “It is what it is.”

He stared back at the reflective service, where his shirt collar was pulled low. The blank stretch of skin had been itching for some ink for a while now, and he ran a hand softly across the expanse.

Yeah.

\---

It’s about a week later and Louis’ sitting in a tattoo studio. His tattooist, Tom, chatting away to him as Louis stares at his shirtless reflection in the mirror opposite.

“I’m going to have to shift it just a bit lower than usual to avoid your mark. Unless you want me to change the script style?” Tom asked, breaking Louis out of his slight trance and pay attention to the stencil being held up.

“No, it’s fine.” It had taken Louis too long to find a font he liked and he was not going through that again. Tom sprays down the stencil before slowly pulling it off again, revealing the letters spanning over Louis’ chest.  

“Alright, give me a second to set up, you get comfortable, and then we’re ready to go.”

Louis laid back on the chair, picking a spot on the ceiling. Soon enough, the sharp familiar pain of the tattoo machine was vibrating through his skin and into his chest.

“You know,” Tom said, after a few minutes of Louis getting accustomed to the scratching pain, “There’s not a lot of artists who’ll tattoo so close to a mark.”

Louis smirks a bit at that. He’d had to ask an old friend of his to pull some strings after an internet search had proved unhelpful. So yeah, Louis knew just how hard it was to find an artist, and his next bank statement was not going to let him forget it either.

 “A lot of people,” Tom continues, “are under the impression that if an artist is willing to tattoo so close to a mark, then there’s nothing really stopping them from covering it completely.”

“Isn’t that illegal anyway?”

“Sure it is. That doesn’t mean it never happens.”

Louis couldn't imagine ever wanting to cover his mark. Completely erasing something so important to his future is basically incomprehensible. But, he knew there were a lot of other people who would get it done...

“Have lots of experience with that then?” Louis couldn’t help but chuckle dryly.

“Stop laughing or I’ll get your letters wonky.”

After that Louis tried his best to zone out, concentrating solely on the sharp hum of the tattoo machine and the sting of the needles. Eventually the buzzing noise cuts off, the pain dissipates a bit, and Louis realises that it’s over.

“Alrighty, all done.” Tom said, leaning back in his chair. “Let me clean you up, grab a photo and then we can wrap it up.”

  
“What are you going to do with the photo?” Louis asks, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the chair.

  
“Probably nothing, might put it on the website or something if you don’t mind? Some people don’t like their marks on display”

  
“Nah, mate go ahead.” Louis already had a shit tonne of photos of his mark out there on various sites, he couldn’t imagine how one more could make much of a difference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, sorry for the delay but unfortuantely life got in the way and I'm back at uni and i'm an activist so it's all a bit busy.  
> That being said you are all fantastic and the support I've gotten for this fic is absolutely incredible and I love you all <3
> 
> ALSO TO MY COMMENTERS YOU ARE GREAT AND CONSTANTLY MAKE MY DAY. 
> 
> KUDOS AND COMMENTS GIVE BABY ANGELS THEIR WINGS
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at [lou-makemetea](http://www.lou-makemetea.tumblr.com)  
> Or on twitter at [CityDaze_](http://www.twitter.com/CityDaze_)  
> Or leave any comments/questions in the comments section :)  
> Love ya,  
> N


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i'm back.

**-H-**

The staging rehearsals were easy, nothing Harry hasn’t done on his other two tours previously. So it’s not much of a surprise that he spends a long time just sitting on the middle of the stage as everyone else scurries around him. Any other time and he’d be trying to help out, but after the last incident with the pyrotechnics it was declared better for everyone if he just stayed out of the way.

It’s not even like he could get Josh or Niall or even Sandy to entertain him. Sandy was still getting staging advice and Niall and Josh had both disappeared somewhere, undoubtedly making out in a dressing room or something.

So the days were easy and boring but Harry would put up with it because it means that in less than a week he’ll be back in America to begin his third tour. Performing his third album.

Frankly, Harry would put up with almost anything if it meant he still got to do what he loved every day. His hand found his wrist again.

 

**-L-**

 “Hey Z,” Louis calls as he walks through the door after work later that week.

Zayn just kind of grunts in response from his spot on the sofa.

“Where’s Liam?”

There’s a long pause, and Louis can feel a sense of worry creeping in.

“Zayn?” Louis asks again, sitting down beside him on the couch, “Where’s Liam?”

“He went for a run.” Zayn finally answers.

“O-kay.”

As much as Louis himself detested any form of exercise that didn’t result in an orgasm, Liam going for a run was nothing out of the ordinary. So why was Zayn acting so odd?

“And how have you been?”

“Good”

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong now?”

In response Zayn just stands up and walks out onto the balcony.

When Louis follows him out, Zayn’s already tapping a half-finished cigarette on the edge of the glass barrier.

 

“Do you ever wonder, like, what would happen if your soul mate was a girl?” Zayn asks, seemingly out of nowhere.

It takes a minute for Louis to answer.

“Well she wouldn’t be my soul mate then.”

Louis walks over and stands beside him, hip leaning lightly against the barrier.

“But what if she was?” Zayn looks up at him and there’s something in his eyes that Louis has never seen before. Not like this.

“I think-” Louis stops for a moment, reconsidering. He could take this seriously if Zayn needed him to.

“I think maybe I could love a girl.” Well, as serious as he could, “If she had a dick that is. Maybe.”

Louis laughs, but Zayn still just watches him seriously. 

“So you’re attracted to penises then, not men?”

“I think that’s what I’m saying.” Louis pauses again, “Do you think the plural of penis is penii? If not, it should be.”

“I’ll look into it.”

They slip back into a comfortable silence, staring out side by side over the city skyline. This time it’s Louis who breaks the quiet.

“Why’d you wanna know? You don’t usually care about this stuff?”

“Do you think that maybe we, as like a society, invest too much into this soul mate bullshit? At least in a romantic way, you know? Like, whether you’re attracted to someone or not doesn’t make them any less your soul mate. Platonic love is a thing. You can have a boyfriend and a soul mate as well.” Zayn pauses, “Right?” 

“Why does this seem like we’re no longer talking in abstracts.”

“Liam met a girl.”

 “They have matching soul marks.”

“Zayn.”

“Yeah.”

“ _Zayn_.”

“Fuck Lou.” Zayn’s shoulders slump, his back curling as he rests his head against the cool glass, “I just thought for once maybe this was it, you know? I didn’t need to know if my mark matched his because it didn’t matter. But now...”

There’s silence again, but Louis struggles to fill it.

Usually he’d be ecstatic for Liam, finding your soulmate is supposed to be the best thing that could happen to you. It’s all Louis’ ever wanted so anytime someone else finds theirs it gives him hope.

But, now, he’s not sure what to think. Liam and Zayn are in love. _Were_ in love? Louis just really thought that they were soulmates. But now they’re not and Zayn is being fucked over and is it possible that there is a flaw in the system? That maybe this is an outlier? The only one of its kind.

The soul marks are supposed to rule out heartbreak, guarantee eternal love and happiness.

Right?

Zayn stubs out his cigarette and heads inside, half-slamming the door behind him.

 

**-H-**

They’re halfway across America when Harry decides he wants another tattoo. He’s been feeling that familiar itch that sits just below his skin for a while now, but he waits until they’re in LA to finally get something down.

But it’s not until later, when he’s showing Niall, that he realises something he should have considered earlier.

“I don’t see why you’d get a tattoo you’re just going to cover up?” Niall asks, when they’re both sitting in the back of the tour bus, some Robin Williams movie playing with the volume way down low.

Josh is curled up beside Niall, practically asleep as Niall’s fingers play softly in his hair. They’re talking in low voices, the kind of voices that only come out late at night and make you feel like telling your secrets.

“Never mind, Niall.” Harry replies, getting tattooed always takes it out of him. Not to mention they had to wait until after trading hours to even go to the damn tattoo parlour. So now it’s late and tired and the tattooed skin is still fresh and raw and Harry just really, really, wants to sit quietly for a bit before going to bed.

“Look, I get it.” Niall continues, “It’s a private tattoo, not meant for others and all that shit but next time get it somewhere you can actually _hide_ it. Get it on your ass for fucks sake, it’s what I did. ”

“Yeah look – wait. You _what_?”

“Not the point.”

“Ni-”

“ _The point is_ ,” Niall says, “that this _isn’t_ a private tattoo, mate. It’s on your fucking wrist. And it’s certainly not helping all the talk about your soul mark.”

He rubs subconsciously at his bandaged wrist, finger reaching just below the leather strap, running over the marks he has there, new and old. He can feel the script, raised and bumpy, feel the clear even letters. The promise he’s made to himself. The statement he’s making to the world, eventually.

_I CAN’T CHANGE_

“My mark has nothing to do with anything, Niall” Harry tells him, a harsh whisper.

Niall just raises his eyebrows in disbelief. In reality, Harry’s mark has _a lot_ to do with _everything_ , and he knows it.

“And besides, I’m not going to keep the bracelet on forever you know?”

Just, you know, until he’s not famous. Or being followed around by photographers. Or when people stop caring about who his soul mark is.

Okay, so maybe he will keep it on forever.

Niall sighs, seemingly giving up for now. The movement seems to dislodge Josh from his resting place so Niall stands up and links his fingers with Josh’s. Slowly he pulls the half-asleep boy out of the beck room and into the hallway.

“Get some sleep, Haz.” Niall says from the doorway, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Harry watches them walk down the hall before calling out,

“Is it a shamrock on your ass?”

He can hear Niall’s laugh from other end of the hallway,

 “Wouldn’t you like to know!”

**-L-**

Her name’s Perrie.

The girl Liam met; his ‘soulmate’.

Her name’s Perrie and she’s lovely and Louis’ is still not quite sure what to do about it. So he just tries to hate her on principle. Unfortunately this proves difficult.

Fact is, Perrie is wonderful. She’s witty with a loud brash laugh no concept of self-consciousness.

 Not to mention absolutely gorgeous, hell _Louis_ would date her if he wasn’t incredibly gay. It’s not hard at all to imagine her as Liam’s soulmate, the perfect complement to both his quiet practical side and his wilder party side.

But it still seems impossible to imagine Liam without Zayn. Zayn the intelligent, faux bad boy with a soft family side.

Right now, they’re all out for dinner, crammed awkwardly into a booth at Louis favourite restaurant. He’s stuck beside Perrie while Zayn and Liam sit beside each other on the other side, hands entwined on top of the table in a subtle sort of defiance. But that is how it’s always been. And that’s what Louis finds the strangest about this entire situation, it doesn’t feel like anything has changed at all. Liam and Zayn are still obnoxiously and exclusively in love, Louis is still nauseated and confused by this and Perrie-

Okay well, the Perrie bit is new.                                                                                         

Obviously the three have had their own private discussions, Louis hears them whispering together on the couch when he comes home from work.  There’s a dynamic there, there’s something going, but he still can’t quite work it out.

So instead he just watches them. Liam and Zayn joke and make heart eyes over milkshakes and curly fries. But then there’s also the way they look over at Perrie. The eye-crinkling laughter that Liam send Perrie’s way and soft fond look that takes over Zayn’s face whenever she speaks.

Louis swear they’re playing footsies under the booth, all three of them.

**-H-**

Honestly, Harry thought he could make it longer than he actually did.

They’re almost at the end of the American leg of the tour, the lethargy has kicked in and Harry’s never been so excited for the two week break he has at home before Australia and Japan.

So, they’re in an American town Harry can’t quite remember the name of right now, and they only arrived this morning and they’ll be on the road again before midnight and right now everything is just very, very loud.

Harry’s reaching out into the crowd as he makes his way down the catwalk, doing that clichéd popstar thing where they reach out and touch the hands of all the fans. It’s a bit ridiculous but he loves it. The connection with his fans is something he can’t get anywhere else.

So Harry is reaching out into the crowd, there are hands reaching and grabbing and pulling and tugging but it’s nothing he can’t handle. There’s no way anyone can hurt him here.

Until they do.

It’s the bridge of his favourite song, the one they use as the final encore to close the show. He’s caught in the moment and it’s so easy to ignore the harsh pulls on his arms until someone gets caught. Their hands so easy and loving until something gets tangled, fingers caught in the leather strap wrapped around his wrist. Harry turns, catches the panicked eye of the fan. He smiles at her and tries to pull his wrist away, twisting and manoeuvring.

Unfortunately, she does the same and suddenly the sturdy leather of his bracelet is pulled tight, too tight, and the tie breaks.

It just…

And it’s almost like Harry’s watching it all happen in slow motion.

The screams get louder and louder and he misses his cue for the final verse because all he can focus on his is bracelet floating to the ground. That thick strip of leather that was the only layer of protection or comfort he’s had for the last three years just fall away like nothing.

But more than anything, he’s staring at his wrist. His uncovered wrist. There, right there, is his mark. Open for everyone to see. The clear swooping lines and dark brown colour obvious.

So naturally, Harry panics.

As quick as he possibly can, he pulls at his sweater sleeves and holds them in his hands, for once grateful for the long sleeves and heavy fabric.

He clutches at the sleeves like letting go would kill him.

It feels like letting go would kill him.

When Harry looks up again at the audience just a few seconds later and it’s like nothing has changed. If he just keeps singing, just gets through this song, then he can pretend that never happened.

 But he knows.

 _They_ know.

No doubt in Harry’s mind that the exchange and slip had been broadcast over the cameras. If not, then there was definitely fans that got photos. Harry couldn’t do anything without there being a photo.

When the song finally finishes and the band begins playing the outro, Harry looks over to where Niall is standing. They met each-other’s eyes and it’s clear that Niall knows exactly what happened.

Niall just raises an eyebrow, but there’s still worry in his eyes; a question.

_You okay?_

Harry shrugs, shakes his head, and shrugs again.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY WOW THANK YOU ALL SO SO SO SO SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT IT IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS THE RESPONSE IVE HAD  
> LIKE SRSLY YOU GUYS ALL ROCK I LOVE YOU  
> MWAH!!!  
> You guys are the best and constantly make my day :)
> 
> ANY AND ALL COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED (and corrections please) :)
> 
> KUDOS AND COMMENTS GIVE BABY ANGELS THEIR WINGS
> 
> As always you can find me on tumblr at [lou-makemetea](http://www.lou-makemetea.tumblr.com)  
> Or on twitter at [CityDaze_](http://www.twitter.com/CityDaze_)  
> Or leave any comments/questions in the comments section :)  
> Love ya,  
> N


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is! :)

**\---**

Ashleigh Styles (@_xxFckMiiHazz)

New tattooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/peHfYKiBHy

 

Jem (@Yep_Im_Catwoman) in reply to Ashleigh Styles (@_xxFckMiiHazz)

WHAT IS THAT BESIDE HIS TATTOO? / ! WHAT IS T HA T ?? ?! !!!!! !@11!

 

Carlaa (@Caaaaarl4xx)

IS THAT HARRYS SOUL MARK IN THAT PHOTO OF HIS NEW TATTOO?  GUYS /GUYS/ GUYS!!!!

 

Ashleigh Styles (@_xxFckMiiHazz)

IT IS! FUCVK MEE!! I ZOOMED IN, IT LOOKS LIKE AN EYE OR SOMETHING?? ? pic.twitter.com/yGHidsYVKli

 

Kate // FOLLOW ME HARRY (@Kate_Kite_95)

I would like to officially thank god and jesus and the crazy fan girl that pulled off his bracelet. What a beautiful day.

 

Jessie (@Weirdo4Lyf)

I feel really sorry for his mate though? They’re gonna be hunted down and not left alone at all like :/

 

THANKS HARRY!! (@GE_orgyy1997)

The hunt begins now. #FindHarrysMate

 

**-H-**

The moment Harry gets off stage, he’s surrounded. There are people everywhere pulling him one way or another and he’s too shocked to resist when Paul grabs him by the arm and half directs half drags him through the nearest door.

His dressing room is so, so loud when he enters, seemingly crowded with every single member of his PR team, possibly more.  Everyone’s moving around, half shouting into phones or at each other, but when the door closes behind Harry though, everything falls dead quiet with every person turning to look at him.

There’s a tension that hangs thick and heavy in the air as Harry stands under their scrutiny. Or maybe Harry’s just freaking himself out.  Probably both.

“Hello.” He says, waving awkwardly. No-one says anything and slowly they all turn back to their phones and conversations, he’s obviously not the most interesting thing in the room, well not _all_ of him anyway.

“Harry!” A voice calls out to him from the back of the room. When Harry looks over he sees Mark pushing his way through the crowded room, flanked by two other staff. They’re all dressed in business suits and stressed expressions

“Okay,” Mark starts, letting out a deep breath before continuing, “So there are already some grainy shots up online, cell phone stuff etcetera. For now everyone knows it’s your mark, but not exactly what it looks like. We estimate about two hours until clearer photos go up. Maybe a little more.”

“Why the delay?” Harry asks. Usually high quality photos of the concerts are up within an hour after the encore, and there’s really no reason why this concert would be any different.  

“Right now we know of at least three magazines and two online sites that want exclusives.” A voice belonging to one of the other PR agent answers, “The bidding may draw it out a bit longer, but not longer than about two and a half, three hours.”

“Hang on,” Niall says from beside him. Harry jumps a little, not having realised the other boy had followed him into this mess. Niall’s hand comes up to rest on his shoulder just as Harry leans back into his solid, comforting weight.

“Why aren’t you guys trying to buy off the pictures and not let anyone see them? You can do that. You’ve done shit like that before.”

Which is true, they had. Over the last few years Harry had had his fair share of incriminating pictures; underage drinking, random hook-up with a guy (he was a romantic okay, not a saint) and even one picture of is mark that emerged a few years ago. But all of that had been swept under the rug, bought off and dealt with.  Maybe there’s a bit of hope for him now.

“True, we could.” The other PR person says. Her name’s Melinda, if Harry remembers correctly,

“But that would only make it worse. You see, when we’ve done it before it’s been in different situations. It’s easy to stop pictures that people don’t know exist. But this? There are 50,000 people out there that _know_ there are high quality photos of Harry’s mark. If we try to hide that, the harassment you get currently is going to feel like a walk in the park.”

“Oh.” Harry says.

So there really is no hope. Great.

 “Oh” Niall’s echoes.

“So what happens now?” Harry asks.

“For you? Nothing.” Harry lets out a sigh at the agent’s words, “Just, don’t tweet or anything until we work out in detail what’s going on. We’ll let you know when the high quality pictures go up so you can be prepared.”

“C’mon Haz, let’s go to the bus.” Niall reaches out and grabs his hand, pulling him out of the room and down the hallway. It takes all of Harry’s strength not to collapse the moment he gets on the bus. There’s an exhaustion that rides deep through his bones, and makes his eyelids heavy in the dim light of the cabin.

“You good Haz? Do you need me to stay up with you?” Niall’s offer is genuine, but Harry

“Go to your own bed, Niall.” Harry tells him, “I’ll be fine and I know Josh is waiting for you.”

“Really Haz, I can stay-”

“ _Go_ Niall.” Harry tells him, “I think I need to be alone anyway.”

“Night, Harry.” Niall calls out as he moves into the back area where Josh is already curled up asleep in their joint bunk.

As soon as the door closes Harry pulls of his shirt and jeans. He climbs quickly into his cramped little bunk and instantly feeling calmer.

He’s almost asleep when the text finally comes.

_It’s out._

 

**-L-**

Louis is standing in the confectionary aisle of his local Tesco browsing the discounted chocolate bin when Zayn sends him a text message. He’s loaded up on cereal and bread, having had to do an early morning breakfast run so that they wouldn’t starve to death, so it takes him a second to reach into his pockets and thumb open the message.

_go to daily mail web site right now u need to see this_

So Louis pulls up the browser on his phone, quickly typing in the site and waiting for it to load while sifting through some almost out of date Freddos. When he looks down again to see the page fully loaded, he sees the picture. He isn’t sure what he expected to see on the home page of the Daily Mail, but it is not the grainy picture of a soul mark. The photos a little blurry, and you can’t quite tell what the exact shape is unless you’re looking for it, unless you already know what it looks like.

Which Louis does, of course, because it looks exactly like his.

It’s _his_ mark that he’s looking at, on the front page of the Daily _fucking_ Mail online.

Except it’s not actually his, is it?

No, the picture is of Harry Styles. The incredibly famous, incredibly rich and incredibly protective of his mark Harry Styles.

 But it’s definitely Louis’ soul mark. The familiar loop and dot like a cartoon eye obvious to him despite the low quality of the image. It’s right there clear as fucking day and it’s on the wrist of Harry Styles.

Which means-

Which means that-

That-

He texts Zayn.

_oh….._

And then

_fuck_

And then

_help_

 

To say Louis goes into panic mode is an understatement. He dumps the basket of groceries at the end of the aisle and seeks out the nearest exit. They’ll just have to starve. But really, what else is he supposed to do?

His mark is being flaunted around the entire internet in terrible quality photographs and it’s really not that long until the high quality ones come out and suddenly Louis’s private life becomes very public.

He opens up his phone and texts Zayn, 

_Open my laptop. U kno my password. Go on my FB and delete every picture of my mark. Im already deleting all the dating site accounts. Be home soon._

Zayn’s reply comes through almost instantly,

_already done_

Louis lets out a heavy sigh and texts Zayn back,

_ur the best. Ill be home soon._

_*_

When Louis gets home, Liam, Zayn and Perrie are all spread out on one couch, each of them glued to their laptops or phones to the point where they barely even hear him enter.

“Hi,” Louis sighs, and leans heavily against the closed door.

“Louis!” Perrie says, from where she’s curled up between the other two boys, “You’re home!”

“Yeah, hi.” He rubs a hand roughly against his face.

“Okay well, I think we need tea,” Perrie says, nodding to herself “I’m gonna go make tea.”

She gets up and bustles over to the kitchen, passing Louis with a soft squeeze of his shoulder.

“Come here Lou,” Zayn says, holding out his arms so Louis can come and fill the empty space left by Perrie.

“You alright?” Liam asks, moving over just a little to make room.

“Not really, no.” Louis shakes his head, sinking deep into the couch. It’s far too early for him to have to deal with this shit. Or any shit. Far, far too early. Speaking of-

“Hey, why were you even up so early?” Louis asks, “Neither of you have work today”

“Uhh…” Zayn looks over at Liam whose eyes shift quickly to the kitchen door.

“And why doesn’t it look like the couch was slept on, even though Perrie definitely stayed overnight?”

“Um, well you see-”

Louis takes one look at the bright red blush colouring both Liam’s and Zayn’s cheeks and quickly changes his mind.

“Actually never mind”

There’s a brief moment of silence where the two other boys look at each other awkwardly before Louis remembers why they’ve all gathered.

“So are there any more photos? Have people worked it out?” Louis asks, “Are they gonna work it out?”

 “So far all the pictures are just from fan’s phones or generally terrible quality.” Zayn says, scrolling down his twitter feed.

“That’s because the proper high quality ones and currently being auctioned off and bet on by various magazines or websites so that they can get the exclusive.” Perrie says, as she walks back into the lounge carrying the tea.

They all turn to look at her, Louis shocked, Liam and Zayn with a tinge of awe.

“What?” Perrie asks, slightly affronted, as she places the mugs down on the table in front of them, “I’m studying PR. I know my shit.”

 “Anyway, the photos of low enough quality that recognition software couldn’t pick it up. What that means is that if we can get all your photos off now, then it should be very difficult if not practically impossible to hunt you down this way.”

Louis turns to Liam, “I like this one. You can keep her.”

Liam just smiles softly.

"We've gotten rid of the Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter photos. You've done the dating sites." Perries says, "Are we sure that's everything?" 

Louis wrack his brain for anything else but comes up empty, "That's everything." 

*

When the high-quality pictures finally do surface, an hour and a bit later. Louis’s curled up between Zayn and the end of the couch, all four of them now crammed onto the three seater, staring at Louis’s laptop that’s open to various news sites.

The photos are all attached to headlines screaming about “HARRY’S SECRET FINALLY OUT” or “MARK REVEALED: HARRY STYLES BARES ALL”. But it’s the articles that are worse, because it’s the articles that detail how know Harry’s mark is out, the next step is hunting down his mate. No holds barred, all necessary resources, he will be found.

And well, that’s Louis, innit? He’s gone from an actual person to just another thing to be found, another animal to be hunted so that he can be stuffed and displayed as a trophy.

“What the hell do I do, Zayn?” Louis whisper asks, turning and shoving his face into the crook of Zayn’s neck. Instantly the younger boy’s hands reach up and hold the back of his head gently, Louis can feel Perrie and Liam reaching over as well, leaving comforting strokes on his wrist and arm.

“It’s almost nine, you have to go to work.” Zayn replies, but Louis just shakes his head burying deeper.

“No, what do I do about _this_?” He throws out an arm weakly, gesturing to the laptop where the photos are still open.

“I don’t know Lou, I really don’t.” Zayn says, “But we’ll help you however we can, you know that.”

Liam and Perrie both nod in agreement, and it’s only as Louis pulls away and  stands up to get dressed for work that he finally lets his thoughts drift to Harry.

****

**-H-**

 “Fuck Harry, this is getting ridiculous.”

Harry looks up to see Niall sitting on the chair beside him with his laptop open and staring half-horrified at the screen.

It’s been just over a day since the pictures of Harry’s mark got out and he’s been avoiding the internet as much as possible. PR hasn’t officially decided on how to handle it, but Harry’s more than happy to wait and see if it all dies down. Niall calls him optimistic bordering on psychotically delusional. Apparently his mark is ‘big news’ or something, Harry’s just kinda over it all.

 “What’s ridiculous?” Harry asks anyway, it’s probably nothing about him anyway.

“Look what Paul just sent me.” Niall hands the laptop over to Harry, his emails open and the screen filled with photos.

At first he doesn’t understand really, it’s literally a thread of pictures of teenage girls in various poses. For a second he wonders if Niall accidentally showed him the wrong thing, but then he looks closer and realises.

There’s a connection between all these photos. Every person has their soul mark on display. And they’re all the same; replicated over and over on the neck or wrist or hip of a different person.

And it’s Harry’s mark. All these people, with Harry’s mark.

“Niall.” Harry looks up, wide-eyed.

“They’re all fake, obviously.” Niall says, taking back his laptop, “Most of them are just eyeliner or Sharpie, you now? But-”

“But?”

“Well,” Niall sighs, turning his laptop around again, this time there’s one photo taking up the whole screen. It looks like a close up of a girl’s ankle, painted nails pulling down her socks to display a dark brown mark. It looks real, except for a faint red tinge that surrounds it.

“Niall, is that-?”

“A tattoo? Yeah. She’s the only one we know of, but there’s probably more.”

It’s like all the breath has been knocked straight out of Harry’s lungs.

Someone got a tattoo.

Of his soul mark.

There is a person out there, maybe multiple persons, who have _his_ soul mark on their body, but aren’t actually his soulmate.

And this – _this-_ is why Harry hid his mark from everyone. For fucks sake.

As if finding his mate wasn’t going to be hard enough already, now his “unique” mark, the best guarantee, the _only_ guarantee, isn’t even unique.

Fame has ruined a lot in Harry’s life, but to destroy the sanctity of his soul mark is the worst thing yet. But he can’t even hate the people that have done this to themselves. Harry knows what it’s like to be in love with a celebrity, with your _idol_. There are so, so many people out there who were convinced that Harry was their soul mate, and as long as he hid his mark, there was hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, he was theirs to keep.

But no, Harry wasn’t theirs. He couldn’t be. He only had one soulmate, there was only one person out there for him. And now, there’s no hope in finding them.

Searching for your mate was always, no matter who you were, like looking for a needle in a haystack. But now, for Harry at least, it was like looking for one specific needle in a pile of completely identical needles.

 “Is there any news on my actual mate?” Harry couldn’t help himself, he had to know.

“Doesn’t look like it.” Niall answers, taking the laptop back and switching tabs.

There’s a frown on his face as he starts typing. “It hasn’t been long enough for the fans to have done anything super intense and management’s still focused on damage control more than anything else. Nothings turning up on anyone of the matchmaking sites so either your mate heard what happened and took the photos down before anyone could actually search, or they didn’t have one up in the first place.”

“Good.” Harry says.

“I tell you what though, I’d hate to be your mate when they do get found.”

 “Can we wait it out?” Harry asks, a futile optimism colouring his question.

“This isn’t going away, Haz.”

“I know that. I know but-” 

“But what?”

“What if they find my mate?” His voice was strained, “What if they find him? Or her? Oh god, Niall what it it’s a girl?”

By now Harry was bordering hysterical, finally succumbing to the panic that he’d manage to hold at bay since last night.

“Whoever they find, if they’re your mate then they belong with you. They’re exactly what you need. They’ll be perfect for you and you’ll be perfect for them.”

“You’re just saying that because you and Josh are perfect for each other!”

“That may be true mate, but it took us a long time to get there. When Josh and I first met I was comfortable in my bisexuality, but Josh wasn’t.”

“What?” Harry couldn’t imagine a Josh that wasn’t one hundred percent in love with Niall. They just fit so well; like puzzle pieces, the way everyone says soulmates are supposed to.

 “Oh yeah,” Niall nods, but there’s still a serious look in eyes that sits at odds with his flippant tone, “He ended up having this huge gay panic when he realised his mate was a guy. We didn’t speak for a few months, most miserable months of my life let me tell you.”

“I don’t want to have a sexuality panic! I’ve already been through that once, I’m not doing it again Niall, no way no how.” Harry says, “And I really don’t want to put someone else through that either.”

“My _point is_ Harry, is that it did all work out. Sure we took the long way round, but it worked. Because we’re soulmates, just like you and your soulmate will work around whatever issues you will have.

“I know that Niall, like objectively, I know that. But. What if I’m not ready?”

“Everything happens exactly when it’s supposed to, and never sooner. Isn’t that what you always tell me?”

And it is. It is what Harry always says, but it’s never been tested like this before.

Harry doesn’t feel ready, so why is everything happening anyway?

“Niall, I-” He exhales a shaky breath, unsure and terrified. “What do I do?”

“I don’t know, mate.” Niall reaches out and tangles his fingers in Harry’s hair. “I really don’t know.”

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO  
> Thanks for sticking by me and also for showing your incredible support each and everytime i post this. Really, you have no idea what this all means to me. This fic makes me super excited and i just want to talk about it always so y'all should come do that. :)
> 
> ALSO! I signed up to do a [fic exchange](http://1dsmutfree.tumblr.com/post/95959704947/hiiiii-friends-we-aylin-erika-jess-have)!   
> It's a smut-free fic exchange and i am very excited to participate and WRITE ASEXUAL CHARACTERS WOO ACE REPRESENTATION I LOVE IT. So you all should sign up to write/beta/brit pic or do art or just follow the [tumblr](http://www.1dsmutfree.tumblr.com) to follow this amazing project.
> 
> Anyway that's my excuse if my updating slows down even more (i'm also writing a one shot as well! eep!)
> 
> As always you can find me on tumblr at [lou-makemetea](http://www.lou-makemetea.tumblr.com)  
> Or on twitter at [CityDaze_](http://www.twitter.com/CityDaze_)  
> Or leave any comments/questions in the comments section :)  
> Love ya,  
> N


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I disclaim, this is all fiction, i don't own the boys, and this is un-beta'd so all mistakes are mine and i encourage you to correct me!
> 
> -N

**-H-**

They’re on a flight back to the UK after the end of the North America tour. The small space of the private jet is comforting and safe if not slightly ridiculous due to the sheer fact that, well, it’s a private jet. Especially considering that there’s only a few of them on board; Harry, the band and a couple of security guys only managing to fill two thirds of the seats.

Everyone else is asleep, chairs laid back and blankets pulled up. The windows are closed to block out the daylight as everyone tries their best to fight the inevitable jetlag. Well, everyone except for Harry and Niall, that is.

Josh has been using Niall’s shoulder as a pillow for most of the flight. It had to be totally uncomfortable for Niall, but his only response is to occasionally smile down fondly at the sleeping boy.

He spends the rest of the time alternating between his laptop and watching Harry from across the cabin where Harry shifts constantly, unconsciously tugging at his bracelet where it still weighs heavy on his wrist. He’s got a meeting with management almost as soon as he lands, and the nerves from that isn’t really helping how terribly he was already handling the soulmate situation.

“Why do you bother covering it now?” Niall asks, into the silence.

“Habit, I guess.” He shrugs, “I dunno, it’d feel weird to have it uncovered.”

“Yeah, but there’s not really a point anymore, is there?” Niall says, and Harry screws up his face in response because technically Niall was right.

There wasn’t really a point to hiding his mark, not when high definition pictures had already been broadcast across practically every single gossip website, social media site and magazine in the entire world.

In the days after, there was a veritable flood of information being spread about his mark. Fans had created these elaborate documents with pages of descriptions and analysis of its size, shape and placement. Many more of them trying to read something into the eye-like shape of it, the light brown colour, and the way it was raised ever so slightly off the skin. They said it meant increased fertility between the couple, or that his mate lived outside the UK, or that it was a girl, or a guy, or that they hadn’t been born yet, or that they had died already, or this or that or whatever. Harry was over it. His soul mark, the thing he considered most sacred to him was being read like a lump of fucking tea leaves.

But that kind of violation was nothing considered to what he had to tolerate physically. They’d had to completely scrap the cat walk portion of the remaining concerts and security deemed it ‘too dangerous’. The fans weren’t just enthusiastic and curious; they were bloodthirsty.

Anyone with front row tickets wanted to have their own look, or touch, at his mark and it became clear quite early on that they didn’t care how they went about it. Cutting out the fan interaction and being forced back into the middle of the stage had been miserable for Harry. The fans were the best part of every concert, and now there was this huge barrier between them. He didn’t blame them, not really, much like he didn’t blame the first girl who started it all. But it still sucked a lot for him, to have to deal with the fans that weren’t content with just his music anymore.

Of course, for every bad fan there was a thousand fantastic ones. The ones that sent him letters and made signs and got stuff trending on twitter for hours and hours, to make sure he saw it all. The things that said “We Support You Harry” or “#SmileHarryWeLoveYou” or, his personal favourite, a sign that read “Music > Mark”.

Of course, it wasn’t only the fans that had gotten more aggressive. In the last week alone his team had had to file three separate restriction orders against different paparazzo’s. He rarely went out, but when he did the crowd of photographers that followed him was increasingly ridiculous. Not only was there more and more of them, but they’d all grown increasingly violent. More than once he’d had his clothes pulled and torn as they all scrambled to get an exclusive shot of his mark that wasn’t from The Concert.

“Look, there’s a difference between choosing to show your mark and having it revealed unwillingly.” Harry says eventually, “It’s like, you don’t see Jennifer Lawrence walking around without her top on just because her nudes leaked, do you?”

In reply, Niall just offers him a small smile that says _okay_ and _I get it_ but also _you can’t pretend this is going away, Haz._

But god damn it, Harry was going to try his best to make it

\---

**HARRY’S BACK AND LOOKING FOR LOVE!**

_Spotted: Our favourite curly haired popstar is back in London._

_Just weeks after revealing his long kept secret soul mark to the rest of the world, Harry Styles is back on home soil and searching for love._

_Styles was notorious for hiding his mark from prying eyes, which he managed for a solid four years. Impressive! But all it took was an enthusiastic fan at a concert to reveal his secret; much to the joy of fan girls worldwide!_

_These photos show Styles as he walked through Heathrow airport this morning, where he was greeted by hordes of fans and more than a few photographers. But he kept elusive, barely acknowledging the crowd and keeping his long sleeves down firmly over his marked wrist._

_Some say that he’s just back for a scheduled break in the middle of his worldwide arena tour, but our sources say that the multi-award winner is actually in London to finally hunt down his mate!_

_So, what do you think? Is this loveless lothario really just taking some time off, or are his intentions a little bit more romantic? We here at StarScape are keeping our eyes peeled and our hopes up!_

_And if Harry ever gets lonely on his quest for love, we know a few journalists who are ready and willing to help!_

 

**-L-**

For Louis, life goes on. After the panic of the first day or two had died down, he’d somehow managed to return everything back to normal.

 It’s hadn’t been easy though, he’d spent hours upon hours calling every friend and family member he could in a blind panic and making them swear up and down not to tell anyone. He’d also had to stop wearing shirts that revealed his collarbones, which was the real loss in all of this.

The hardest call he’d made though, was to his mum.

“Hey mum.”

“Hello love, how are you holding up?” Her voice had been soft as it travelled down the phone line. The comforting kind of warmth he associated with home

“I’m great!” He’d replied, and it had only been a little forced, “It’s good

“I know you’ve seen the news or whatever,” Louis’ mum makes a noise of assent, so he carries on “Can you just, like, not tell anyone about my mark?”

“Lou,” His mum’s voice cut down the line, laced with concern.

“Yeah?”

“Do you wanna talk about why you’re taking this so hard?”

“Not really.” Louis was planning on avoiding that question for a little while longer.  He was quite content with not having to analyse why his enthusiasm for finding his mate had turned into full blown terror.

“All you’ve ever wanted was to find your mate, and now that you have, you’re avoiding them. I just want to why, you know I worry Lou. ”

“I know mum, I just-” He had stopped, still reluctant, but in the end he’d never really been able to deny his mum, “I just panicked okay! I was excited to find my mate and settle down and all that gross domestic shit but now…”

Louis sighed, something he seemed to be doing a lot of lately, “I don’t wanna have my picture all over the internet. I don’t want hundreds of journalists hounding me all the time. I wanted my mate, but I just didn’t ask for all of this extra stuff.”

“Oh Lou," His mums voice was soft again, losing the interrogatory edge, "I am so sorry it’s happening like this.”

“Yeah, me too.” Louis had replied, “Look, can you make sure the girls don’t say anything? Not even to their friends.”

“Of course I can love.” She had paused for a moment, “You know this isn’t going away right?”

“So everyone keeps telling me.” Louis said, bidding his mum goodbye before hanging up and collapsing into the couch.

And that had been pretty typical for every discussion he had about the issue. Louis would try his best to pretend he was handling it all and then someone would call him out on it and it would all go to shit.

-

It was late morning when Louis finally wakes up and rolls out of bed. It's been a week or two since the pictures went out, honestly in the blur of work and secrecy Louis had begun to lose track of time. Half of him wants to just roll over and succumb to the warmth of his blankets, but there’s the smell of coffee and breakfast wafting from the kitchen and his stomach growls traitorously.

He’d had a rough night, plagued by the kind of dreams filled with screaming young girls hunting him down and it had managed to be put in a foul mood.

“Morning,” he says, stumbling into the kitchen to find Zayn and Liam eating breakfast in the kitchen. The moved around each other with a domestic kind of comfort that was, quite frankly, nauseating at seven in the morning.

Liam turns around as Louis enters, eyes instantly concerned when he takes in the other boys tired and dishevelled appearance.

“Y’alright, Lou?” Liam asks, voice coloured with concern as he hold out a mug, “You don’t look so well.”

Louis shrugs, taking the cup of coffee out of Liam’s hands and falling onto the stool near the kitchen counter.

 “Just another bad dream I guess. Haven’t been sleeping that well ever since it all came out, y’know?”

“Lou, hey, it’s gonna be alright,” Liam says, offering Louis a seemingly genuine smile and a pat on the back.

“I doubt that Li, but I appreciate your optimism.”

“But isn’t this what you always wanted?” Zayn adds as he wanders over to where Louis is sitting, hooking his arm around Liam’s waste.

“I don’t remember wanting to be hunted down by rabid teenage girls just because of who my soulmate is.”

“Oh, c’mon Lou.” Zayn replies, “Ever since you got your mark all we’ve heard is how desperate you were to find your soulmate!”

“He’s kinda right Lou.” Liam says, “You’ve done a complete one-eighty from flaunting your mark at every opportunity to hiding away like a fucking Mormon.”

“Well I’m sorry if you’re finding it difficult to deal with.” Louis turned to shoot them both a proper glare, “I can’t possibly imagine what that’s like.”

“For god’s sake Lou, you’ve finally got your fucking soulmate. Just suck it up and deal with it!” Zayn steps forward, his voice rising slightly, “You’re acting like this is the worst thing to ever happen to you and frankly you just sound like a spoilt brat!”

“You know what, Zayn? Fuck you.” By now, Louis was practically shouting, chest rising and falling heavily as the pent up anger and frustration had poured out of him in an unrelenting tirade, “Just because you’re jealous that I actually have a soulmate while you’re stuck loving someone whose mate is someone else, does not give you the right to attack my life choices!”

The silence after Louis’ violent outburst was deafening. Of course Louis regretted it the moment he it had come out of his mouth. It was unfair of him to say that kind of stuff, and he knew exactly what would push Zayn’s buttons, but Zayn hadn’t played fair either. Zayn had pushed and pushed and he knew Louis was going to give way eventually.

So they were both at fault really, but it didn’t change how sick to his stomach Louis felt.

“Fuck you, Louis.” Zayn’s voice was cold, emotionless.

“Zayn, wait, you know I didn’t mean that!”

But it was too late, Zayn had already left the room. The steady thump of his heavy boots echoing up the flight of stairs and soon enough the slamming of his bedroom door.

He turned to wear Liam was still standing, wide-eyed as he watched the scene that had just occurred in front of him.

“Liam,” Louis pleads, “C’mon, you know I-”

“Shut up, Louis.” He stood up quickly, “You can’t fix this right now.”

He turned and followed Zayn up the stairs, leaving Louis alone in the lounge-room feeling like absolute shit.

**-H-**

It’s barely been twenty four hours since he landed in London when Harry finds himself in yet another meeting with management.

Harry had been called in alone, which meant it wasn’t about the tour or the album and they’d already dealt with his upcoming press commitments, so really there was only one thing this meeting could really be about.

Ever since Harry’s mark hit the headlines, there’d been pressure on every side for him to start tracking down his mate, to the point where even his mum and Gemma were texting him every few days about it. But out of everyone, management had been the worst.

So, it was with absolutely no surprise that, when Harry walks into the meeting room to see Scott and a bunch of other faceless suits, there is a huge pile of documents stacked up with a photo of his mark placed on top.

“Harry! How are you holding up?” Scott asks, all fake smile and cheerful tone. He extended his hand out, one which Harry promptly ignored in favour of unceremoniously throwing himself into an empty chair

“Let’s just, get this over with, shall we?”

Harry’s tone is tired, a bit cold, and the management team looked slightly taken aback, but still Harry couldn’t bring himself to care.

They’d masqueraded under the idea of genuinely caring about Harry meeting his mate and finding true love or whatever false platitude they decided on that day. But Harry was not a wide-eyed sixteen year old fresh to the industry, not anymore. He knew how this game worked, how the team operated, which also means he knows that they only cared about money and how much they could squeeze out of him.

But Harry wasn’t going to let them play him like that, not when it involved someone else.

So he stayed silent. He did his best to ignore the ramblings of the team as they detailed each new plan or scheme they had concocted. There was speak of private investigators, fake twitter accounts, exclusive dating sites and even fan competitions,; each suggestion getting more and more ludicrous.

However, it was when they moved onto a reality show that Harry knew that he had to draw the line somewhere.

“Have you found them? He asks, interrupting Scott in the middle of his monologue about casting calls. It was the first time he’d spoken in over an hour.

“No.” The older suited man answers slowly, eyes narrowed slightly in a mix of confusion and apprehension.

“Are you looking?”

“We can if you want,” A woman speaks up from the back of the room, “We certainly have the resources, give us a couple of days and-”

“No.” Harry answers, finally standing up from his seat, “Don’t go looking, just let me know if you find them.”

He nods once at Scott and the rest of the room, just enough of an acknowledgment so he doesn’t feel rude as he leaves without another word.

**-L-**

“I know what you’re doing Louis.” Zayn says, wandering into the lounge room.

 He pauses for a second, taking in the scene before him, before sitting himself down on the couch next to where Louis as built himself an expansive nest of blankets. Things are still a little tense from the argument yesterday, despite Louis apologising profusely about being a massive twat, and Zayn accepting it.

 It’s late afternoon already and Louis hasn’t really moved off the couch all day. He’s got the say off work and everyone else had been in class that morning, so there was really nothing to do other than wallow in his own self-pity.

“I’m not doing anything?” Louis says quickly, exiting out of the Twitter app on his phone. Recently he’s taken to scrolling through not only his mentions but also the hashtag #FindHarrysMate. It had exploded straight after the concert and had been trending on and off ever since.

It’s gotten to the point where he would literally wake up in the middle of the night just to check it. They’d been a lot of false alarms, of course there was, everyone wants a piece of Harry Styles. They’d all blown over quickly when people realised it was just Photoshop, or sharpie, or once it was a tattoo (that one had struck Louis as _a bit_ extreme).

“You’re still searching twitter, mate.” Zayn says, meeting Louis’ eyes with a knowing gaze, “It’s been weeks, you’re safe.”

“I’m never safe Zayn,” Louis says, staring back down at his blank phone while burying himself a little deeper in his blanket. Maybe if he buried in deep enough, he could just stay in here forever.

“Lou,” Zayn says softly, “Hey, look at me.”

It takes Louis a moment, but eventually he looks up and meets Zayn’s eyes, overflowing with concern.

“Louis,” he says, “The way you obsess over this? It’s so, so bad for you. You’re stressed and freaking out and you’re taking it out on everyone else.”

Zayn raises an eyebrow knowingly and Louis ducks his head to hide the way his face flushes with left over shame.

 “You have to promise me to take a break yeah? Literally just one day where you’re not checking your phone or laptop every two seconds. You, me, Li and Pez can just hang out, we’ll order take out and watch some movies. Just us, no internet. Sound good?”

“Pez, huh?” Zayn only smiles slightly in return but his eyes light up like they only really used to do with Liam. Well then.

“I just-” He stares down hard at the screen of his phone, but nothing has changed. There are still no alerts, no messages, and no flashing lights signalling the inevitable end to Louis’ life as he knows it. “I just feel like I’ve forgotten something.”

“It’s fine Lou, promise.” Zayn says.

It’s a lie, of course it’s a lie. You can’t really promise people shit like that, not really.

Louis listens to him anyway, because it’s Zayn, and switches his phone to airplane mode before turning it off. Zayn drops a quick kiss to Louis’ forehead before he gets up to unplug the Wi-Fi router and probably grab some DVD’s.

 From his position on the couch, Louis can hear Liam and Perrie bumping around in the kitchen, their voices light and warm as they debate the merits of the local Thai restaurant over the new Italian place that’s just opened.

Everything feels so blissfully normal, that Louis can’t even imagine giving it up for celebrity hysteria.  So he does his best to stop thinking about soulmates who may or may not be famous pop stars, and instead starts hoping that someone’s making him tea.

**\---**

TOM (@TomTatts) 1 month ago

Did this sick tatt on my mate Louis ! instagram.com/y9xc6549

 

H4nnaH (@HazHan23) 23 mins ago

Does this look familiar to anyone . . .  @Harry_Styles ????  RT “Did this sick tatt on my mate Louis ! instagram.com/y9xc6549”

 

MayBELLE (@xxHSNH96xx) in reply to H4nnaH (@HazHan23) 22 mins ago

@HazHan23 OKAY BUT WHO’S LOUIS ??????

 

H4nnaH (@HazHan23) 2 mins ago

I THINK I FOUND HIM! LOOK YOU CAN SEE THE TATTOO IN THE PICTURE RT “@Louist91 Good to see you today mate! pic.twitter.com/peHfSDiBHx”

 

Ashleigh Styles (@_xxFckMiiHazz) 30 secs ago

ALRIGHT CREW. ALL SYSTEMS GO. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. @Louist91 WE FOUND YOU.

 

Jem (@Yep_Im_Catwoman) 5 secs ago

@Harry_Styles HARRY WE FOUND YOUR SOULMATE @Louist91 #FindHarrysMate instagram.com/y9xc6549

**-H-**

In the end it’s the fans that finally find his soulmate. Although, Harry supposes, it was always going to be the fans, wasn’t it?

He gets the call, or rather a lot of missed calls and a text message, just before midnight. He’d left his phone in his bedroom while it charge, figuring that if he had the day off, no one would need to be contacting him anyway. But now, as he’s sitting up in bed with his phone lighting up the dark room, he’s regretting it a little bit.

He knew the call would come one day, and he’d been preparing himself since literally the first day for this to happen. Still, nothing could ever prepare him how he’s feeling right now as he opens his phone, no longer able to delay the inevitable.

The first messages he reads are the ones from Management. They say things like “The fans found them” “Seems legitimate” and “no official statement until confirmation but it looks promising”. It’s when they start talking about organising a meeting that it all becomes a bit too much and Harry has to exit out for a minute.

There are lots of other messages waiting for him in lieu of the official ones. Concerned messages from his mum and sister, one from Josh and even a few from Niall. God, he so desperately wants to call Niall. But the boy is already back in Ireland and the time difference is too much to justify calling him this late. So instead he grabs his laptop off of the bedside table and opens the email from management titled “In case you were curious”. There's a few cursory words and then a link to one of the more popular gossip sites in the UK.

Of course, Harry knows exactly what that link will lead to. No doubt there’s already hundreds of articles out there about his soulmate. Pictures and pictures of them broadcast everywhere, every facet of their life put up on display. Everyone knows now. Well, everyone except him.

But does he even want to? Clicking on this link goes directly against everything he every believed in. He wanted to see is mate for the first time in person, be able to touch them, hold them and hear their voice. He didn’t want it like this, so impersonal and borderline creepy.

But still, there was a huge part of him that just burned with nervous anticipation; a desperate excitement to just _know already god damn it Harry stop being a coward._

He takes a deep breath and then clicks.

**\---**

**HAS HARRY STYLES FINALLY FOUND LOVE?**

_Exposed: Harry Style’s soulmate is revealed, and it’s a boy!_

_In an exclusive report, StarScape is excited to reveal the identity of Harry Styles’ soulmate. Ever since his mark was revealed at a concert in North America, the multi-award winning pop star’s fan has been on the hunt for his mate, and they’ve finally hunted them down._

_Harry Styles’ mate has been identified as Louis Tomlinson, a twenty two year old man who lives and works in London. Tomlinson was tracked down via an Instagram photo from English tattooist Tom Hardy._

_That’s right, Ladies and Gents, our favourite Ladies Man is actually promised to someone of the more masculine persuasion! Below we’ve included some exclusively obtained photos of Tomlinson, and he truly is a handsome one! Look out Styles, we might steal your mate for ourselves!_

_While there has been no official confirmation from either side, it is with full confidence that we report this story. The photo, and other photos that have since surfaced, are undeniable; Harry Styles soulmate is a twenty two year old male London barista._

_So, Louis Tomlinson, on behalf of Harry Styles fans everywhere, welcome to the spotlight._

**-L-**

Louis wakes up with a terrible crick in his neck and a heavy but not uncomfortable weight on his chest. Further inspection reveals that the weight is actually Liam’s’ head, and the neck pain is probably because they fell asleep on the couch. He’s got a hand hanging off the side that’s tangled in someone’s hair, probably Zayn’s, and he can feel Perrie leaning against one of his legs.

It’s only then, as he fully shifts into consciousness and shakes off the final dregs of sleep that he can fully process how incredibly hungry he is. He’d skipped out on pizza last night, so know he was being woken up at fuck-off o’clock in the morning to the sound of his stomach rumbling.

He shifts slightly, sitting up just enough so he doesn’t wake Liam but also so that he could peer down onto the floor. Zayn and Perrie are practically wrapped up in each other, but both of them have a hand reaching out to find Liam. They’re all touching, comforting each other, even in sleep. It’s adorable really. Sickeningly adorable.

Ever so slowly, he extricates himself from the pile of human bodies and sneaks away into the kitchen, dying for a cuppa and some toast. He takes a look at the clock on the microwave. It’s just past seven in the morning, which is far too early for anything beyond breakfast and lazy internet surfing.

Speaking of, it’s technically the next day so he’s no longer under Zayn’s ridiculous restriction.

As soon as his breakfast and tea is made to suit his incredibly high standards, Louis takes his spot at the end of the breakfast bar. He reaches for his laptop first, mainly his phones charging in his room and he’s too lazy to go get it. There’s a few messages on Facebook, but he clicks through to the only email notification first, figuring it might be something important for work.

It wasn’t.

 

“Dear Mr. Tomlinson,” the email begins,

 

_We at Modest! Management pride ourselves on our dedication to our clients. One such client is, of course, Mr. Harry Styles. As you are undoubtedly aware, about a month ago Mr. Styles had his soul mark revealed to the wider public, after keeping it private during his entire career._

_Due to his career and popularity, Mr. Styles has a very wide audience on social media with a high rate of engagement. It is through this fan base that we first became aware that you are, in fact, the soulmate of Mr. Styles._

_Though the source appears legitimate we would appreciate your co-operation in validating your identity and mark before we pursue further. This would bet be accomplished through an in person meeting with one of our representatives in our London offices, as we understand that you live nearby. This meeting can be arranged by placing a call to the number at the bottom of this email._

_If you do prove to be our client’s soulmate, we would of course be eager to help you meet Mr. Styles as soon as possible. We understand that meeting a soulmate for the first time is a very exciting time and eager to be a part of organising and easing your transition into your future life with Mr. Styles._

_We appreciate your co-operation in this matter and hope to hear from you soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Scott Marshall_

_Modest! Management_

_On the Behalf of Client Harry Styles_

 

Louis closes the lid on his laptop, before slowly pushing it away from him in shocked silence.His head feels heavy with too many thoughts and he’s deliberately avoiding letting it calm and settle on anything. Instead he ignores it all, focusing instead on the _thump thump thump_ of his hear as it beats too loud and too fast in his ears.

Louis takes a deep breath, filling his lungs.

 

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale. 

_Inhale-_

“ZAYN!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my lovelies! hello! It has literally been almost two months since i updated and i am so so so sorry!!!!
> 
> But i got this done. :)
> 
> Your support is incredible and absolutely unprecedented and i love you all very dearly <3
> 
> ANY AND ALL COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED (and corrections please) :)
> 
> KUDOS AND COMMENTS GIVE BABY ANGELS THEIR WINGS
> 
> As always you can find me on tumblr at [lou-makemetea](http://www.lou-makemetea.tumblr.com)  
> Or on twitter at [CityDaze_](http://www.twitter.com/CityDaze_)  
> Or leave any comments/questions in the comments section :)  
> Love ya,  
> N


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? A new chapter? I cannot believe...  
>  **THIS FIC IS NOW AVAILABLE IN PORTUGESE[ HERE ](http://www.wattpad.com/88465162-right-in-front-of-me-or-maybe-in-disguise-%E2%9C%96) THANKS TO [ANNA](http://zaynfitsmebetter.tumblr.com)**  
>  -  
> As usual I disclaim, the members of One Direction (as well as other characters depicted) and their public images do not belong to me. As far as I know the relationships, sexual orientations, personality traits and actions depicted within the story are all completely fictional. I just love One Direction a lot.

-L-

“ZAYN!” Louis yelled, panic heavy in his voice. “ZAYN GET THE FUCK OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!”

Almost immediately he could hear a series of noises coming from the lounge room that sounded not unlike the sounds that would be made by someone falling off the couch and on top of two other people.

Louis’s voice was bordering on ‘hysterical shriek’ and his heart felt like it was about two seconds from literally pounding out of his chest. His breath was catching in his chest on every breath and his palms were definitely sweaty. Louis was probably panicking.

“ZAYN!!!!” He screamed again, his voice cracking a little. Okay, Louis was _definitely_ panicking and neither Zayn nor Liam were with him to calm him down.

Just as Louis’ taking in another deep breath, ready to scream Zayn’s name again just in case he missed it the first few time, there’s a loud shuffling noise nearby.

Louis looks up to see Zayn, Liam and Perrie all shoved into the doorway, all flailing limbs and panicked expressions, fighting to get into the kitchen. Eventually though Zayn manages to make it through the door and practically sprints the short distance over to where Louis is in one of the kitchen chairs.

“Louis?” Zayn’s voice is about as panicked as Louis feels, “Fuck, are you alright?”

Zayn’s hands start running quickly all over Louis’ trembling form, undoubtedly searching for some kind of injury. Louis’ tried to curl himself up on the kitchen stool, muscle drawn taught in panic and his head tucked tightly between his knees, so when he attempts to say something it comes out muffled.

“Oh, Lou,” Zayn says, softer this time as he wraps his arms around Louis.

Liam’s hands are sitting somewhere on the joint of his shoulders and neck, comforting and solid, and he can even feel Perrie’s soft slim fingers stroking small circles near his ankle. Louis can also feel them all making concerned eye contact over his head, but the warmth and comfort they’re exuding is doing a pretty decent job of calming him down.

“Lou,” Liam says softly after a minute or two, “Do you wanna tell us what’s going on?”

Louis lifts his head up just enough to mumble out the world ‘laptop’ and make a short aborted gesture with his neck to where the offending item is sitting on the kitchen bench.

It’s Liam who reaches over to grab the laptop, taking his hands off Louis’ back and moving around to the other side of the kitchen bench. He opens it up and quickly types in the password; the screen is still showing The Email from the management company, which Liam starts to skim through quickly, eyebrows raised.

“What’s it say Li?” Zayn asks, his arms still wrapped tightly around Louis, one arm rubbing soothing circles on his back.

“It’s…uhh… I’ll just read it out loud.” Liam says, scrolling back up to the top of the document, as Perrie also moves around the bench to stand beside him.

When Liam starts reading out the email, Louis does his best not to listen. It’s worse the second time around and he can really start to feel the panic solidify in his veins.  His breathing is still shallow but he doesn’t feel like he’s on the verge of tears anymore. Although he can’t really feel Zayn’s arms where they’re supposed to be wrapped around him and everyone sounds a bit like they’re underwater when they speak.

That’s probably not good, Louis thinks idly.

 “I think he’s gone into some kind of shock,” Liam suggests, a minute or so later,  and even though he sounds like he’s so far away it’s easy pick out the alarmed tone in his voice, “What do you do when someone goes into shock?”

“I’ll… go get a blanket?”  Louis hears Perrie suggest softly, before turning and heading back into the loungeroom.

She’s only gone a moment before her voice drifts out from the lounge room.

 “Hey, guys?” Perrie’s says, “You might wanna come see this.”

Louis somehow manages to make his limbs move, with little help, so he makes his way slowly off the chair and through the doorway.  Perrie is standing in front of their television, remote in hand, and staring at the screen. It looks like the ‘entertainment’ section of one of those terrible morning shows. There’s a split screen between the hosts and another woman who’s sitting in front of a picture of the Hollywood sign and speaking with a harsh American accent.

A few moments later Zayn and Liam follow him in, so now all four of them are standing together a few feet from the TV.

The screen changes to show a video of Harry Styles walking through the airport, then the pictures of Harry’s mark at the concert and Louis knows instantly that this is not going to end well.  His mind is still clouded with a panicked fuzz so he can only barely make it out when the TV host says his name.

He can feel Liam’s hand tighten around his waist and Perrie makes a small panicked noise. Louis doesn’t really react until the screen changes once more to show a picture of him.

It’s the picture of his tattoo that Tom took weeks ago. In it Louis’ chest is bare, his tattoo and mark clearly on display. You can’t really see his whole face but Tom had mentioned him in the caption and Louis had replied to it on twitter. The twitter that despite no longer having photos of his mark on it, contained just about every other detail of his mundane little life.

So now anyone with internet could find photos of him. Not that they’d need to really, not when the same pictures are currently being broadcast on national television.

Luckily, they’ve chosen some of the more flattering photos of him, one from his mums wedding, him playing football and finally one of him in a lower cut shirt that shows off his tattoo but still hides his mark.

Not that hiding his mark really mattered anymore, because everyone knew who he was now.

All of a sudden Louis feels his knees buckle beneath him.

**-H-**

Harry can’t really remember what his first thought was when he finally saw the picture of his soulmate. He doesn’t even bother to read the text, eyes drawn instantly to the square photo sitting directly below the headline.

Maybe his first thought was “ _He looks so tiny”_ or “ _Look at his tattoos”_ or maybe even  “ _He’s really hot”_ but mostly it was a steady stream of _he,_ _him, his_ because Harry’s soulmate was _male._

He lets out a sigh and it’s a bit ridiculous, because objectively he knew his mate was going to be perfect for him. But still it’s a bit of a relief, and concentrating on that also means he doesn’t have to think about a lot of other, more serious things.

He zooms in a little on the photo. The boy is, in Harry’s objectively opinion, incredibly attractive. Shaggy light brown hair done up in a half quiff that flops over his forehead. Not to mention the frankly obscene cheekbones scattered with stubble and the wide smile that crinkles his eyes.

This boy- this _man_ \- Harry corrects, is _gorgeous_.

It takes a few minutes of scrolling through the other photos – there’s one of him all sweaty and smiling in football gear, and another one of him decked out in a navy blue slim-fit suit that almost gives Harry heart palpitations - before he is actually capable of reading the text.

The man’s name is Louis Tomlinson, he’s twenty-two years old and works in a café. He lives in London as well, which is nice, Harry thinks idly.  Even if Harry can’t quite shake the weird feeling that surrounds him because of how ridiculous their circumstances, he’s still mostly struck by how incredibly perfect his mate is.

“Louis,” Harry says, and the name slips out seamlessly from his lips in a soft breath that seems loud in is large empty room. “Louis Tomlinson.”

**-**

“Harry!” Scott answers the phone within seconds of Harry dialling.

“Hi,” Harry says, “Sorry for calling so late.”

“That’s alright, I haven’t left the office yet,” Scott replies, “I assume you got our emails then? And the link to the article?”

“Yeah, I have it open on my laptop now...”

“Ah, fantastic.”

“So, what now?” Harry asks, “Do you have like, his address or something?”

Scott’s laughs down the phone line, “Harry, what are you talking about? You can’t just knock on his door.”

Couldn’t he?

“Oh,” In the short few minutes since he found out, Harry had allowed himself to become quite excited about finally being able to meet his mate, to meet Louis, “Well then, what can I do?”

“Well, the good news is that we’ve managed to track him down and we’ve sent an email asking him to come into the office so we can verify that it’s an exact match.”

“Okay,”

“And from there we’ll talk about orchestrating a proper meeting for you two!”

“Orchestrating?” Harry asks, growing wary immediately of whatever plan Scott has in mind, “Why does anything need to be orchestrated, I can just wait at the offices…”

“No, of course you can’t.” Scott’s voice has adopted a tone that makes it quite clear he thinks that Harry is being ridiculous, “We have to do something properly. We’ll set up like a café or park or something for you guys, tip off some paparazzi, maybe a few fans to get some proper candids. Something that will seem completely natural, but still let us have some control and coverage.”

“What?”

 “Come on Harry, you’ll be front page of every tabloid you can name!” Scott replies, “Especially with the tour starting again soon and the fact you’ve got the new album coming out soon.”

“You’re going to make me meet my soulmate in public in front of a hoard of photographers?” Harry couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing, he’d had to put up with a lit over the last few years but this was really shaping up to be the worst.

“In sounds bad when you put it that way…”

“It sounds bad anyway you put it!” Harry replies, trying to keep his voice even but failing, “I won’t do it!”

“Well, we can’t let this opportunity go to waste.”

“Louis is _not_ an opportunity for you to exploit.” There’s an uncommon harshness in Harry’s voice that surprises even himself.

“We’re not _exploiting_ Harry, just utilising every option.” Scott says, still infuriatingly calm, “Anyway, think about it. You get this moment documented, preserved for posterity, memories for a lifetime and all that.”

“How much of a choice do I get in this?”

“Well, of course you get a _choice_ Harry…”

“But not really.” Harry says, letting out a weary sigh.

Scott just makes a short humming noise of affirmation on the other end.

“I’ll do it,” Harry concedes, “on one condition.”

“Of course.”

“If Louis says no, then it’s off. I’ll only do it as long as he’s okay with it as well. If not, you find some other way to do promo and we get left alone by the paps.”

“We’ll run it by him as soon as he comes by the offices.” Scott says, and there’s the sound of a keyboard clacking in the background.

Harry just offers a short goodbye before hanging up and falling back into his bed. When he closes his eyes all he can see is Louis’ face.

**-L-**

An hour or so later, having recovered from when he had basically fainted and collapsed rather dramatically onto the floor, Louis is back sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop sitting in front of him. It’s eerily similar to the position he was in just a few hours ago, except this time he’s got Zayn and Perrie flanking him on either side helping him work out what exactly to say on the phone to the no doubt intimidating businessman he’s about to call.  

Liam’s just hovering around somewhat uselessly, making worried noises and asking Louis if he’s “really sure about this” and “I just don’t want you feeling pressured into anything.”

Which is ridiculous, really, because _of course_ Louis feels pressured into this situation, but there’s not really anything he can do about it, is there? This is just the shit hand he’s been given and at this point he really has no choice than to just deal with it.

Liam had tried to talk Louis out of going into work that afternoon of course, insisting that he’d be able to handle the shop on his own, which was bullshit, but Louis’ did appreciate the thought. Despite all the other private information that appears to have leaked, no one knows where Louis works and if he doesn’t try to restore just a sense of normalcy in his life then he might actually lose it.

Not to mention it’ll be something to get his mind off of the phone call he’s about to place to a member of Harry’s management team.

When Louis finally presses the call button it takes everything within him not to hang up immediately. The dialling tone echoes through the silent kitchen.

 “Good Morning, Modest! Management,” A deep male voice answers, “Scott Marshall speaking.”

“Hi,” Louis says, doing his best to keep his voice steady, “My name’s Louis Tomlinson. I got an email from you yesterday?”

“Louis!” Scott says, “Hi, how are you?”

“I’m…good?”

“Fantastic,” Scott seems to not have realised how unsure Louis is, either that or he’s just politely ignoring the fact that Louis’ voice is at least an octave higher than what’s considered normal. “So I assume you’re calling because you believe you’re Mr. Styles’ soulmate?”

“Yeah, I am.” Louis says, one hand reaching up to touch the mark on his collarbone almost subconsciously, “Well, at least I’m pretty sure I am.”

“Well, that’s why we’re talking isn’t it.” Scott says, “Of course we’ll have to verify it ourselves. We’ve had more than a few instances of fraudulent claims to the mark so I’m sure you understand our need to double check.”

Louis makes a noise of agreement in response, looking up a little to meet the worried eyes of the others.

“Are you free in the next couple of days to come in for a meeting?” Scott asks after a moment, “Assuming of course you’re still in London.”

“Uh, yeah I am.  I think I’m free tomorrow afternoon?” Louis looks to Liam to double check that he isn’t working, Liam sends him a thumbs up.

“That should be fine. I can schedule you in for 2 o’clock tomorrow afternoon?”

“Yeah…”

Scott can obviously sense Louis slight hesitancy because he asks, “Is that not a good time?”

 “No, no it’s fine.” Louis says, a little shakily, “It’s just… soon, I guess.”

“Lovely, I’ll have my secretary email you the address. Do you have any more questions?”

“Uh…” Louis pauses for a moment before asking, “Will Harry be there?”

“No, Mr. Styles has a previous engagement at that time.”

“Oh, alright.” Louis says, trying not to sound too… disappointed? Is he disappointed that Harry won’t be there? “I think that’s all.”

“No worries, Mr. Tomlinson.” Scott’s saying, “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

“Yeah, I’ll see then.” Louis says, pressing the end call in a slight daze.

“So,” Louis says, putting his phone down on the kitchen counter beside his laptop, “That went… well?”

“You’re going in tomorrow then?” Zayn asks, squeezing Louis’ shoulder in a way that’s meant to be supportive but only ends up adding more tension to his stance.

“Yeah.”

“Do you wanna, like, talk about it?” Liam asks, concern emanating off of him in waves in a way that threatens to suffocate Louis.

“Uh, nah I’m just- I’m gonna- yeah,” Louis stammers out, standing up from his chair and practically running into his room. He had some kind of excuse about getting ready for work, but really he just needed to not break down in front of his friends again.

Everything about Louis’ life right now- his soulmate being an international popstar, meeting with a management company tomorrow, having his name and face plastered across national, if not _international_ , television screens- makes him want to hide, maybe even just pack up and run away.

He can’t though, there’s too much of his life rooted in London for him to just throw it all away. So for now he’ll just have to go work and hope and pray it would be good enough for now.

 -

His shift at the café was going well, better than Louis had expected at least.  Their main customer base of businessmen, old ladies and disaffected hipsters are far too busy or uninterested to care about pop stars and their soulmates, so Louis has pretty much able to fly under the radar completely undetected.

Of course, this all changes about an hour and half before Louis is supposed to knock off, when two young women walk in. Initially Louis doesn’t really think much of it. He’s not one to typecast or assume that all teenage girls are crazy brained for handsome pop stars with curly haired and dimpled smiles, so when they walk up to the counter, Louis greets them just like he would any other customer.

“Hi, Can I get a small latte with one sugar tha-” One of them says handing over the money before pausing and looking up, “Wait, are you Louis Tomlinson?”

Louis freezes, he was really hoping to have made it through this shift without anyone noticing.

“Uh, yes I am,” He says slowly.

“I knew it!” The first one says, sending a look to the woman beside her. They’ve both got what could only be described as a slightly manic look in their eyes and that’s when Louis realises he’s in trouble.

“Oh my god, can we like, get a picture with you or something?” The second woman asks, jumping up and down on the spot a little.

“I can’t believe we found you, this is amazing.” The first one says, practically squealing in excitement at this point.                                                                                                                                                                           

Louis casts a frantic look around the shop, trying to get Liam’s attention, and when he looks back both of the women are holding up their mobile phones- with Harry Styles phone cases- in his direction.

There’s the distinctive sound of a camera shutter, and that’s when Louis realises they’ve just taken a photo of him. In his place of work. Without his permission.

How has this become his life?

Louis doesn’t really know how to react, in all honesty.  Luckily, that’s when Liam swoops in to save the day.

“Good afternoon ladies, can I help you?”

“Oh, oh no, no we’re fine…” The second one says, “We were just-”

“Did I see you take a photo of my colleague before?” Liam asks, a sharp edge to his voice Louis hasn’t heard before, “Because I know he hasn’t given you permission to do so and given we’re on private property I’m going to have to ask you both to delete them.”

The women stare at him wide eyed, obviously not expecting to be confronted about their creepy photography habits. Liam clears his throat and gives them a sharp glare, which seems to spur them both into action fingers dancing over their screens.

As Liam makes sure the photos have actually been deleted, Louis starts making the coffee as quickly as possible. When he’s done he places the coffee on the counter wordlessly, noticing the way the two women scurry out quickly afterwards.

Liam waits until they’ve definitely left to turn back around **.**

“I made sure they didn’t put anything on twitter about where you work,” He says, “And I made them promise not to say anything, although I’m not really sure if that’ll actually happen or not.”

“Thanks,” Louis says, and his voice is small, quiet, the vulnerability he’s trying not to feel shining through just a little.

“Lou,” Liam says, offering him a soft look, “Why don’t you take your break now?”

Louis just nods silently, a little sick of being coddled but nonetheless grateful, and walks out into the small break room that’s out behind the kitchen. The corners of his eyes are stinging with what feels like tears but he won’t give in to them. Not again, not for this. He collapses onto an upturned milk crate and takes a shuddering breath.

Fuck.

**-**

When Louis comes back from the tea room twenty minutes later the first thing he notices is a sign propped up on the counter, facing out  that reads “DO NOT TAKE PHOTOS OF THE STAFF” in Liam’s steady block writing.

“It’s ridiculous that we even have to make signs about that kind of shit.” Liam says, in lieu of an actual greeting as he wanders past Louis to wipe down the counter.

“I guess I’ll need to find a new job then.” Louis says, fiddling with his name badge and staring out into the shop front trying not to look so saddened by the prospect.

As much as he might complain, he really did like his job here. For some people, like Liam, working in a café was just a pit stop on the way to something bigger; a way to make money while doing a degree or shitty internships. But for Louis, it was more than enough. He’d tried the path of ‘Doing Something with Your Life’ and it just hadn’t been for him. Louis was more than happy to be a barista for the rest of his life, and sure maybe one day he’d like to be a manager, or maybe even own his own little café, but he _liked_ his job.

Louis liked his job and he loved this dingy café with its regular customers and decent steady wages, and he really, really, didn’t want to leave.

“Why on earth would you do that?” Liam’s sounded appalled, and when Louis turned around is expression was a mix of horrified and indignant.

“Because now that they’ve found me, it’s never going to end.” Louis says with a shrug, “I’m not stupid enough to think that they’re not actually going to tell people where I work, even if they haven’t got a photo. So people will come and they’ll see me working here and then soon enough there’ll be hordes of fans and paparazzi stalking out the front, Liam. I can’t stay here anymore.”

“So what, you’ll get a new job just so that they can find you and harass you there?” Liam asks, watching Louis with a steady gaze, “No, of course not. You’re staying here.”

Liam says it with such conviction that Louis can’t help but let out a soft smile, wandering over to help Liam restock the cabinets.  Everything was changing, but at least some things could stay the same.

At least he didn’t have to lose everything.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW HELLO
> 
> So, it's only been like a month and a half right? Not long at all...  
> It's a little shorter than I wanted but that's because I decided to split it differently than I had planned.As usual life got in the way and my best laid plans went to waste, but I hope you all enjoyed the next installment.  
> If you did, make sure to check out my other writing as well as my fic for the 1DSmutFree Ficathon, "nothing but my electric soul"
> 
> I've currently got a few things in the works, including a sequel to my 1DSmutFree fic and a Punk!Wings!AU as well as the next chapter for this!!!
> 
> Please Kudos/Comment/Subscribe if you liked this because I love hearing from you guys!!
> 
> As always you can find me  
> On tumblr at [lou-makemetea](http://www.lou-makemetea.tumblr.com)  
> (i'm more than happy to take requests for shorter fics and drabbles here!)  
> Or on twitter at [CityDaze_](http://www.twitter.com/CityDaze_)  
> Love ya,  
> N


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A brief list of things that have happened since i last updated:  
> \- Zayn left One Direction.  
> \- Zerrie broke up.  
> \- One Direction went on hiatus.   
> \- Louis had a kid.  
> \- Zayn dropped his new single.

**-L-**

The weather in London is cold and overcast like it always is this time of year.

Louis’ standing outside a tall building in the middle of central London, and from his position on the street he can see into the glass windowed lobby and make out the prominent ‘Modest!’ sign adorning the back wall.

Everything is clean and polished and looks way too expensive. Louis looks down at the scuffed toes of his shoes and his jeans that are faded a little too much to be fashionable, and ignores the way his stomach flips. He knows that there are bags under his eyes and his hair is still an impossible mess after a long sleepless night.

Shoving his shaking hands deep into the pockets of his wool lined jacket, Louis looks both ways down the street before crossing the road. He's quick to open the door and pull it open.

The glass door closes heavily behind him as he walks into the foyer and up to the front desk. His wet rubber soles of his shoes squeak obnoxiously on the polished floor. 

“Can I help you?” The receptionist asks, barely looking up from where she’s typing at her desk.

“I have an appointment with Scott?” Louis responds.

The receptionist raises one perfectly groomed eyebrow, “Is that a question?”

“No?” Louis clears his throat, “No. I have an appointment with Scott Marshall.”

“Hmm,” The receptionist looks back to her computer and begins typing again, “You’re Louis Tomlinson?”

Louis nods and she pushes herself out of her chair, “Follow me then.”

The receptionist leads Louis down a long hallway, her high heeled shoes echoing in the empty space. They reach a door about halfway down and the receptionist knocks twice before pushing the door open and leading Louis inside.

The office is wide and spacious with large bay windows and looks like the office of every business in every movie ever. It's a cliche that would usually make him laugh but the suited silhouettes of a man and a woman standing in the corner keeps him silent.

The only indication of the receptionist leaving the room is the sound of her heels on the tiles and the soft clicking of the door as it closes.

Louis shuffles awkwardly, the sound of his clothes rubbing against each other too loud in the tension thick room. Or maybe it was all in Louis' head because when the suited man in the office turns around he seems completely at ease.

"Louis!" The man says, crossing the floor with his hand extended for Louis to shake, "My name’s Scott, we spoke on the phone yesterday, it’s a pleasure to meet you."

"Uh, you too," Louis says, shaking Scott's hand and trying hard to hide the shaking in his voice.

"Please sit down," Scott says, gesturing to the pair of leather seats on one side of the desk. The other chair is quickly occupied by the other woman, who Scott introduces as Meredith.

“Well, let's cut to the chase then,” Scott says, leaning forward, “Meredith is from the Soulmark Registry and is here to verify your mark. She's already inspected Mr.Styles’ mark, so this is the last step.”

The woman beside him stands up and pulls out an iPad from her briefcase, “ Mr. Tomlinson,” she says, “If you'd be so kind as to stand up and remove your shirt?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your mark is on your chest correct?” Meredith responds, not even looking up from the screen in front of her as she makes a a few definitive taps..

“Oh, yeah,” Louis says as Scott laughs quietly from behind his desk.

Louis quickly shucks off his jacket and pulls his shirt over his head. He keeps his eyes trained on bizarre stone sculpture in the corner of the room and tries his best not to flinch under the intense scrutiny of both Scott and Meredith.

It's not that Louis’ insecure about his body, almost the opposite in fact, but standing shirtless in the offices of these high-powered people has him feeling way more vulnerable than he would have liked.

Meredith spends a long few moments looking back and forth between Louis’ chest and the iPad , upon which she's zoomed in on a photo of Harry’s mark. Louis’ spare hand drums nervously on the side of his thigh as he waits.

After another agonising moment Meredith clears her throat and locks the screen of the iPad.

“It's the same,” she announces calmly, as if he hasn't just changed Louis’ entire life.

Scott smiles but Louis stays frozen, one hand clutching his shirt and the other digging sharply into the meat of his thigh.

“Great!” Scott says, “We won’t release an official statement of confirmation until you two actually meet, but it is confirmed as of now.”

Wow. Okay.

Scott picks up the landline phone on his desk and presses a button “Kimberly,” he says to, who Louis assumes is, the receptionist, “Please message Mr. Styles’ the confirmation.”

When Scott clears his throat again, Louis realises that he's still standing shirtless in the middle of the room like a knob. With a blush heating his face he quickly pulls his shirt back on and sits back down in one of the leather chair.

“Now,” Scott continues, “in terms of organising you two meeting in person, we’ve brainstormed a few locations-"

“Uh," Louis says, "I thought we would just meet here? Or like, maybe at one of our houses?"

"Louis,” Scott says in a voice that borders on condescending, “Surely you should have realised that someone of Mr. Styles’ status calls for a more high key set-up.”

“I- I don’t understand what you mean?”

Scott lets out a sigh, “Mr. Styles’ is a internationally recognised celebrity. His soul mark has been shrouded with secrecy since he first began performing. This, along with the recent events that led to your discovery, means that we feel it would be best to have a more public meeting.”

There’s a short silence before Louis finally looks up, “Go on.”

“At this stage we were thinking something along the lines of a park or outdoor cafe. It’d still appear natural and comfortable for yourself and Mr.Styles but is also the best location for the photographers we’ll arrange.”

That last part grabs Louis’ attention, “Photographers?” He asks, “You’re going to call the paparazzi on us?”

“Louis,” Scott say his name again and it makes Louis want to punch him in the face, “It was going to happen eventually. Setting it up now just means we can control it.” Scott rocks back in his chair, “So do we have an agreement?”

“No.” Louis says, “No way.”

“Louis, you already agreed to this.” Scott reminds him, a smug smile on his face.

“That was before I knew you'd make us do it in front of the entire world!” Louis half-shouts and waves his arms, nearly hitting Meredith, whom he’d forgotten was there.

Because Louis hasn't already agreed to this, not really. He's agreed to meet his soulmate, to meet Harry. He _hasn't_ agreed to broadcast one of the most important moments of his life across every tabloid magazine in the country!

“Mr. Styles has already said he’ll do it.”

“Well that’s all well and good for _Mr. Styles_ , isn’t it?” Louis hisses out, “He’s used to international stardom and having his photo taken every second of his life!”

“Well, I’ve had meetings with the people in charge of Mr. Styles’ public relations and we’ve determined that a meeting that is photographed is the best option here for all parties.” Scott is unerringly calm and it makes Louis feel a bit like a raving lunatic, but he's not backing down from this.

“Well,” Louis crosses his arms, “As one of those parties, I don’t really see how this is the best option for me.”

“Forgive me Louis, but our priority does lie with Mr. Styles first and foremost.” Scott leans forward and links his fingers together on top of his desk, “With his tour starting soon and his next album being released in a few months, we need to generate as much positive press as possible, and the meeting of soulmates is, for lack of a better world, a goldmine for that.”

 _A goldmine indeed_ , Louis thinks, _It’s a miracle that they'd been able to see past the dollar signs in his eyes in order to identify his mark at all._

“Look, give me a few days to decide okay? But if I say no, then it doesn’t happen.” Louis does his best to level Scott with a glare.

"As is your prerogative, Mr Tomlinson." Scott replies, "Just keep in mind that in situations like this it's better to make a decision sooner rather than later."

Just as Louis moves to leave, Scott's words echoing in his head, there's a frantic knocking on the office door. It swings open a moment later, and through it scurries the receptionist Louis met earlier. She looks notably stressed, her previously immaculate appearance ruffled.

"I am so sorry, sir," she says, closing the door sharply behind her, "but we seem to have a bit of a problem."

"Problem?" Scott repeats, forehead creasing with a hit of concern.

"Someone spotted Mr.Tomlinson entering the building and posted a picture online somewhere. We're not really sure where it started but there's at least fifteen girls at the door trying to get in, and the crowds definitely going to get bigger."

"Are they hostile?" Scott asks, turning to the laptop on his desk and beginning to type.

"Hostile?!" Louis asks, voice a little higher than usual.

"Not just yet," the receptionist replies, "But they know he's in here and I don't think it'll take long for them to get tired and start looking for a side entrance. Plus if the paparazzi show up..."

She leaves the sentence unfinished and the hairs on the back of Louis' neck stand up on end.

"Okay, we'll go out the back way." Scott says, "But let security know we'll be taking a quick scroll through the lobby first."

"Excuse me, " Louis says, standing up and pushing his chair back, "but what the fuck is going on here?"

Scott stops typing and looks up at Louis, eyes emotionless, "Mr. Tomlinson, you're about to get a first hand look at your future."

**-**

The next five minutes pass in a blur of noise and lights and ends with Louis practically being thrown into the back of a nondescript shiny black car.

"You can't seriously think I'm still gonna sign up for your little stunt after what just happened?" Louis asks, turning to where Scott is sitting calmly beside him.

"Of course I do,” Scott replies.

"Get fucked."

"Mr. Tomlinson, what just happened was a best case scenario in which Modest and the security detail made sure that everything happened safely and everyone went home happy. Can you imagine what would have happened today if you didn't have us around?"

Louis thinks back to the screaming crowd. The sharp nails on windows, the shrill voices calling his name, the pair of burly men with giant black cameras who loomed menacingly behind them all. There's no way that would have ended well if he didn't have some kind of protection.

"Okay," Louis says, and it's reluctant but he has to do it, "I'll agree to your stupid stunt."

"Excellent," Scott doesn't look up, but small smug smile tugs at the corner of his lips, "I'll have my assistant email you the details, and any forms you may need to sign, in the next few days."

They spend the rest of the trip to Louis' apartment in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet, promise there's more to come! Thank you for continuing to read and like and subscribe! It means so so much. 
> 
> -N xxx


	9. Chapter 9

**-H-  
**

  
It’s not that Harry is deliberately ignoring the buzzing noise of his phone because he’s nervous. No way. He’s just giving Niall, his best friend and favourite workmate, the kind of undivided attention he deserves. He’s definitely not avoiding looking at his phone that just buzzed with a message from his management team.   
  
Nope. No way. Not a chance. 

  
He’s been sitting on the couch for most of the afternoon. There's a bowl of pad thai in his lap, Niall’s spread out on the floor at his feet and Harry’s work phone is sitting on the coffee table in front of them with the little preview message lighting up the screen.   
  
It buzzes again.   
  
“If you don’t look at your phone, I’ll do it for you.” Niall says, his disembodied voice drifting up ominously from the floor.   
  
“You wouldn’t do that,” Harry responds.    
  
“Try me.” Niall says, his hand already snaking up onto the table. 

His fingers barely brush the edge of the phone before Harry snatches it off the table. Niall’s still laughing as Harry swipes his finger across the screen.   
  
The message is short and blunt; the kind of clinical no-nonsense approach he associates with management.   
  
__ _ ‘After a thorough inspection of Louis Tomlinson’s Mark it has been determined that it is identical to yours and as a result we can officially confirm that Louis Tomlinson is your soulmate. Congratulations. We’ll be in touch soon to discuss further plans.’ _   
  
The world doesn’t end, not really, but Harry makes a strange noise in the back and he feels a little lightheaded. Niall makes a noise that’s obviously meant to be an inquiry. Instead of responding Harry just turns his phone screen towards the other boy, who raises his eyebrows as he reads.   
  
“Does that mean I can follow him on Twitter then?” is somehow the first thing out of Niall’s mouth.    
  
“No.” Harry says, looking u at Niall and dropping his phone onto his chest.   
  
The other boy  makes a dejected noise around the food crammed in his mouth, “Please.”   
  
Harry sighs, “How did you even get his twitter account?”   
  
“A whole bunch of your fans kept asking me who he was,” Niall responds with a shrug, “He’s cute by the way,  knows his way around an instagram filter that boy.”   
  
Harry sits up at that, “You have his Instagram too?” 

He’s not really that surprised, Niall has a way of knowing everything before he does.   
  
“Yeah,” Niall says, returning to the food in his lap, “don’t you?”   
  
“No?”   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“Because I’m not some kind of creep?”   
  
“Are you telling me that you, Harry Styles, the most soppy romantic idiot I’ve ever met, are not even a little curious?” Niall’s eyebrows have practically disappeared into his hairline.    
  
Harry sniffs,indignant, “Nope.”   
  
“Well then I reckon you’re on your own then,” Niall says settling back against the couch legs, “Seems like everyone in England has read, or written, an article on him.”   
  
“Not even a little bit interested” Harry re-iterates.    
  
“Uh-huh, sure.” Niall says, reaching over and plucking Harry’s phone from where it had fallen into his lap. 

Harry doesn’t bother fighting it and instead watches petulantly as Niall types in the password quickly and immediately taps on the Twitter app. 

“How do you even know my passcode?”    
  
Niall doesn’t respond, continuing to tap away at the screen of Harry’s phone, “Let’s see… Louis Tomlinson, 22, Barista,”   
  
“I know all that.” Harry sighs, looking over Niall’s shoulder at Louis’ profile.    
  
“Tweets a lot about football,” Niall continues scrolling,  “Has strong opinions on the X-Factor, goes out semi-regularly with his incredibly attractive friends, appears to be constantly surrounded by children,” Niall taps away a few more times, “Oh, they’re his siblings, that’s cute.”  

The thing is, Harry can’t help but be curious. Louis is his soulmate after all, it’s only natural that he wants to know more about the person he’s going to spend the rest of his life with. And in any other world, the idea of sitting with Niall and scrolling through Louis social media, desperate for more information would be nothing but pure harmless fun.

But here, in Harry’s world, the spectre of the public eye looms like an ominous shadow influencing every action he makes. The weight of the text from his management sits heavy in his stomach, making him nauseous. So much for the natural meeting Harry had deluded himself into thinking he could have. 

Harry reaches over and grabs his phone out of Niall’s hands, cutting the boy off mid-sentence. He taps the screen, exiting out of Louis’s gallery to his main profile. Harry takes one final look at the timeline, committing to memory what it all looked like before he changed the other boy’s life forever. 

Taking a deep breath, Harry let his finger hover over the follow button for just one moment more before he finally pressed it. He watched the small box change from white to blue. 

No going back now. 

 

**-L-**

The car drops Louis off a few blocks from his house. 

Scott told him that it was to make sure no one found out where he lived, but Louis’ pretty sure that dumping him on the side of the street and making him walk does absolutely nothing to prevent people knowing his address. It probably does the opposite actually, but Louis can't let himself  think about being followed home right now. And he can't think about the mark that practically burns on his collarbone. And he  _ definitely _ can't think about the way the hands of the crowd had relentlessly pummelled the glass windows so much that it vibrated almost to the point of shattering. 

_ And don’t forget about Harry, _ a voice adds in his head. 

He  _ shouldn't _ think about it but he does anyway, because of course he does. Maybe that's why he only just makes it through the front door of his apartment before his knees buckle beneath him. 

Louis catches himself on the edge of the kitchen doorway before he falls to the ground, but his bag isn't so lucky.  The contents of it spill across the carpet; pens and paper and a long forgotten granola bar scattered at his feet. It's enough to have hot tears forming behind Louis’ eyes. 

“Louis?” Zayn calls from the lounge room in response to the sound, “Is that you?”

Zayn doesn't usually watch television by himself which means that Liam’s here as well. Perrie too, probably. She's become as regular a guest as Liam these days. 

“Lou?” Zayn calls again. His voices is louder, concerned. 

Louis scrubs his hands across his face, wiping away the moisture gathering on his cheeks. He takes a deep breath, and another, trying to calm his rapid heart beat. Not that it works really, because the tears are still falling silently and his voice still cracks when he calls back to Zayn, “Y-yeah. Just a second.”

His reply is followed by a heavy silence that makes it obvious that the others have seen through his facade. Louis pulls himself up, resting his back against the wall with his knees pulled to his chest and his eyes fixed on the carpet. There’s the sound of footsteps heading towards him and a few moments later the tips of Zayn’s socked feet appear in his field of vision.

‘Oh, Lou,” the other boy sighs, stretching out his hand, “C’mon let’s get you off the ground.”

 

Five minutes later and Louis’ left his spot in the hallway for a much comfier but no less pathetic position curled up in the middle of the couch. 

“Well,” Louis says, not for the first time, “Harry agreed to it so obviously he thinks it’ll all be fine.” 

“It's not Harry we’re worried about,” Liam responds, his hand pointedly moving to rest on the top of Louis’ knee. 

“Exactly babe,” Perrie echoes from where she’s sitting beside him on the couch, “You don't have to do anything you don't want to. It’s not like you’ve signed anything so you can still back out. At least take some time to weigh up your options.”

“I dunno-” Louis stares down at his hands for a few moments, “I mean, you guys didn't see what it was like today, I-”

“We did actually,” Liam says, and Louis’ snaps back to attention, his eyes focused on the boy crouched in front of him.

“H-how?” Louis asks?

Liam shrugs, apologetically,  “It was on TMZ.”

Whatever kind of strength Louis had recovered in the last few minutes disappears in an instant. Some of the worst moments of his life had been broadcast on T-M-fucking-Z for everyone to see. 

“There was so many of them Li, So many fans, so much noise,” Louis says, the moment playing back in perfect clarity, “It was  _ crazy.  _ And there's no way I could do any of this alone.”

“Louis,” Zayn half-sighs, he’s been doing that a lot lately, from where he’s standing in the doorway, “For fucks sake, you are  _ not  _ alone.”

“Z, That's not what I-” Louis starts, but is cut off with a shake of Zayn's head as he walks over to crouch down beside Liam and in front of where Louis is sitting. 

“You don't have to do this alone, because you have us. All three of us,”  Zayn tells him, smiling softly, “And Harry too now I guess. But what you have to remember is that you don't have to do this at all. You're right, the whole thing’s crazy, and  _ dangerous,  _ and is that really what you want your entire relationship to be like?”

“Well it's not like I got a choice about whether he was famous or not.” Louis responds. 

“We know that Lou,” Liam says, starting to rub small circles into Louis legs like the other boy is a frightened animal. Maybe he is. “We’re just saying that you do get a choice about this part.” 

“That's the thing though isn’t it?” Louis says, a wry smile pushing at his lips, “I'm not really sure I do.”

  
  


  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey whats up how ya been? 
> 
> this is short and sweet but that's life sometimes ya know? 
> 
> shoutout to every1 who kept messaging me and commenting even though i dropped off the face of earth for a while, you guys are the real MVPs
> 
> follow me on tumblr @ lou-makemetea.tumblr.com 
> 
> love ya Xx

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr at [lou-makemetea](http://www.lou-makemetea.tumblr.com)  
> Or on twitter at [CityDaze_](http://www.twitter.com/CityDaze_)  
> Love ya,  
> N


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